county

Rockcastle County, KY

Demographic and economic profile of Rockcastle County, KY, sourced from the US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) via Data USA.

AI Overview

Rockcastle County is a small rural Kentucky county of 16,144 residents with an economy reflected in a GDP per capita of $22,613 and median worker earnings of $36,255, pointing to a workforce concentrated in lower-wage industries. The labor pool is limited, with only 48.6% labor force participation, 13.7% holding a bachelor's degree or higher, and an unemployment rate of 6.1%. Housing costs are low — median home value of $119,300 and median gross rent of $678/month — though the county faces headwinds including a 4.1% population decline over five years and a 24.4% poverty rate.

Claude Sonnet 4.6 · generated Jul 6, 2026 · derived from cached Census, BEA & ACS data on this page

Population

16,144

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$48,862

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

42.8 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

-4.1% since 2018

Rockcastle County lost population at this rate over the prior 5-year ACS5 window.

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone15,473 (95.7%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races235 (1.5%)
  • Some Other Race Alone162 (1.0%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race155 (1.0%)
  • Black or African American Alone97 (0.6%)
  • Native Hawaiian & Other Pacific Islander Alone23 (0.1%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish102
  2. 2.French (incl. Cajun, Haitian)24
  3. 3.Other Indo-European19
  4. 4.German or other West Germanic17

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

21.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

59.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

19.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

0.4%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

588

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$22,613

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$28,133

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

6.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

24.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance1,751
  2. 2.Manufacturing (Group)1,108
  3. 3.Retail Trade (Group)859
  4. 4.Construction (Group)460
  5. 5.Professional, Scientific, & Management, & Administrative & Waste Management Services384

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations1,850
  2. 2.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations1,464
  3. 3.Sales & Office Occupations1,160
  4. 4.Service Occupations987
  5. 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations632

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Manufacturing (LQ 1.96×)1,167
  2. 2.Retail Trade (LQ 1.24×)806
  3. 3.Educational Services & Health Care (LQ 1.23×)1,715
  4. 4.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 1.22×)116
  5. 5.Construction (LQ 1.06×)440

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$119,300

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$678/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

74.3%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $150,000 to $174,999630 (13.0%)
  • $200,000 to $249,999495 (10.2%)
  • $100,000 to $124,999465 (9.6%)
  • $80,000 to $89,999292 (6.0%)
  • Less Than $10,000280 (5.8%)
  • $250,000 to $299,999273 (5.6%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

13.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

81.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

48.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$36,255

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

26.4 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

7.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone4,622 (78.3%)
  • Worked At Home614 (10.4%)
  • Carpooled505 (8.6%)
  • Walked81 (1.4%)
  • Other68 (1.2%)
  • Public Transit14 (0.2%)

Data USA · as of 2024

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Data: US Census Bureau American Community Survey, served via Data USA and the Census Bureau API. See each metric tile for the specific dataset.