Calloway County, KY

County Profile

38,224 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Calloway County, KY.

Several figures AreaProfile publishes are measured by county and nowhere finer — death rates by intent among them. On this page those describe the geography they are printed on, which is not true of the city and ZIP pages that inherit them.

55out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 33% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
Opportunity1,316th of 1,463 counties measured31
SchoolsTop 8% of 1,377 counties measured83
Growth1,001st of 1,453 counties measured40
Housing affordabilityTop 22% of 1,462 counties measured80
ClimateTop 26% of 1,463 counties measured74
Physical resilience997th of 1,463 counties measured46
Access1,346th of 1,463 counties measured47
Economic stability1,115th of 1,463 counties measured39
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable counties measured: unemployment is 5.9% and the Opportunity signal places Calloway County in the bottom 10%.

Public schools test above most of the state: 61% of students met the mathematics standard, placing the area in the top 8% of published profiles for schools.

Rent takes 27% of renter income here, below the 30% threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, and the median home is 2.7 times what its owners earn.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
38,224
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$52,706
Bottom 19% nationally
Density
99/sq mi
384.9 sq mi of land
Median age
35.9
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Calloway County
Kentucky
Micro area
Nearest major airport
MWA
88 mi · Veterans Airport of Southern Illinois
Median home value
$183,200
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 5.9% — higher than in all but 8% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment fell 1.2% over the past year, to 15,758 employed residents.

31% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 79% of measured US counties.

Median household income of $52,706 is lower than in 81% of measured US counties.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$47,10114th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$44,3307th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$4,0772024 ACS 5-Year$52,706Bottom 19%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,5132024 ACS 5-Year$29,867Bottom 24%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$45,873Bottom 10%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year14.5%Bottom 39%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.0 min2024 ACS 5-Year18.8 minTop 11%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year31.2%Top 21%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year78.3%55th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202615,758Bottom 22%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026−1.1%Bottom 35%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−1.2%Bottom 37%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202616,75223rd percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year75.3%Bottom 48%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.1%2024 ACS 5-Year0.1%42nd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.1%Bottom 43%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20265.9%Bottom 8%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year6.0%26th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/076.23.5
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 5.9% in July 2026. It has been falling, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202453k45k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $52,706 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

61% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 65% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 16.0 students for every full-time teacher across 10 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
12
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
16.0
across 10 of them
Math proficiency
61.3%
Top 3% in Kentucky
Reading proficiency
64.9%
Top 5% in Kentucky
The 12 largest public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Calloway County High SchoolCalloway County82417.939%48%
Murray Middle SchoolMurray Independent64514.772%79%
Murray High SchoolMurray Independent60717.372%67%
Calloway County Middle SchoolCalloway County60716.463%67%
North Calloway Elementary SchoolCalloway County59614.958%58%
Murray Elementary SchoolMurray Independent58914.777%77%
Southwest Calloway Elementary SchoolCalloway County39915.360%69%
East Calloway Elementary SchoolCalloway County31014.852%57%
Calloway County Preschool CenterCalloway County16720.9——
Murray Preschool Head StartMurray Independent10515.0——
Calloway County Day TreatmentCalloway County71.8——
Murray/Calloway County Area Tech CenterKentucky Tech System0———

54.7% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Kentucky’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the non-metropolitan parts of Kentucky is up 51% over five years, and up 5.6% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $1,195 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.65% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,098, some 26% above the $870 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,098 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $43,900 a year, about 83% of the median household income here of $52,706.

The typical renter household here spends 27% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $870 a month.

A median home at $183,200 costs 2.7 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $66,745, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
26.7%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.7×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,098
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$870
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$183,200
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Calloway County’s median household income of $52,706, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Home price change (1 year)the non-metropolitan parts of Kentucky’s figure2026 Q2+5.6%83rd percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Kentucky’s figure2026 Q2+50.5%72nd percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Kentucky’s figure2026 Q2+91.9%47th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.32024 ACS 5-Year2.7Bottom 38%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year63.9%13th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±352024 ACS 5-Year18,10661st percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$837Top 32%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,317Top 27%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,098Top 40%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$642024 ACS 5-Year$870Top 50%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$9,0752024 ACS 5-Year$183,20050th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$622024 ACS 5-Year$1,19532nd percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$5,2192024 ACS 5-Year$66,745Bottom 28%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.05%2024 ACS 5-Year0.65%35th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year26.7%Top 39%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±2012024 ACS 5-Year57162nd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year3.2%54th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year12.7%73rd percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±3282024 ACS 5-Year2,86765th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures.

Development Momentum

40/ 100
Ranks 1,001 of 1,453 published county profiles
The most recent move in permitting was downward, in a series running from 2020 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has grown 4% since 2020, reaching 38,975 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before: 20 units authorized in 2025, 75% below the prior year.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 26 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show that people moving in from elsewhere in the US and people moving out roughly balanced across Calloway County in the most recent year. Households that moved in reported an average income of $47,101, above the $44,330 of households that moved out.

At 0.7 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
26
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
0.7
Bottom 11% nationally
Year over year
+44%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202439k38k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population. It has been rising for the last 4 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
0.0%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
54%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$47,101
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$44,330
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Marshall County, KY 211 people · 12% of arrivals
  2. Graves County, KY 207 people · 11% of arrivals
  3. Henry County, TN 123 people · 6.8% of arrivals
  4. McCracken County, KY 95 people · 5.2% of arrivals
  5. Christian County, KY 37 people · 2.0% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Marshall County, KY 232 people · 13% of departures
  2. Graves County, KY 175 people · 9.6% of departures
  3. McCracken County, KY 145 people · 8.0% of departures
  4. Henry County, TN 88 people · 4.8% of departures
  5. Montgomery County, TN 34 people · 1.9% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

20202021202220232024202513720
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−61%).

Weather & climate

7 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 89°F and January a low of 27°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 58.1 inches, including 6.5 inches of snow.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station MURRAY, 2.0 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND5.8"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals58.1"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals6.5"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals27°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals89°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals71991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals43°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

46 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are earthquake, inland flooding and tornado, with earthquake alone responsible for 47% of it. Inland flooding is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

EarthquakeElevated
Ice stormModerate
Winter weatherModerate
TornadoModerate
DroughtModerate
LandslideModerate
Strong windModerate
HailModerate

Low or minimal exposure: cold wave, lightning, heat wave, inland flooding, hurricane, wildfire, avalanche, tsunami, volcanic activity, coastal flooding.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). These are FEMA’s own figures for this county rather than a value derived from surrounding geographies. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Calloway County has a modeled homicide rate of about 4.1 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at about 18.5 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at about 14.6 per 100,000 residents in Calloway County.

Homicide
4.1
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
18.5
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
14.6
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Suicide
24.0
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe Calloway County as a whole. They are shown and not scored. How to read death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. City profiles inside this area carry their own figure where their department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Cost of living
Price parities are published for metropolitan areas, and this place lies outside one.
Air quality
The EPA publishes an air-quality index only where a monitor sits. There is none in this county, and a modeled value would be a different kind of number from the measured ones everywhere else on this page.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. Cost of living is published where the Bureau of Economic Analysis measures it, though not for this place. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

3 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Veterans Airport of Southern Illinois at 88 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year82.2%Bottom 20%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle88 miBottom 6%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle3Bottom 35%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year10.8%Bottom 46%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Veterans Airport of Southern IllinoisMWA88 mi8,012 ft
Nashville IntlBNA95 mi11,030 ft
Owensboro/Daviess County RgnlOWB98 mi8,000 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
55
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
IncomeU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology, or every source with how often each updates.

Cities in Calloway County, KY

ZIP areas

Only ZIP areas whose income or home value differ from their city’s by at least ten percent get a profile of their own, so this is a selection rather than every ZIP code in the county.