Franklin County, KY

County Profile

51,842 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Franklin 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.

63out of 100
Area Score
Top 35% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
OpportunityTop 24% of 1,463 counties measured68
Schools1,084th of 1,377 counties measured27
GrowthTop 14% of 1,453 counties measured70
Housing affordabilityTop 27% of 1,462 counties measured79
ClimateTop 27% of 1,463 counties measured74
Physical resilience762nd of 1,463 counties measured58
Access1,009th of 1,463 counties measured71
Economic stabilityTop 49% of 1,463 counties measured61
The quick read

Franklin County ranks in the top 24% of counties measured for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 4.4% and median household income of $65,298.

In the public schools here, 41% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 15.2 students for every teacher.

Rent takes 27% of renter income here, below the 30% threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, and the median home is 2.5 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
51,842
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$65,298
Top 50% nationally
Density
249/sq mi
207.9 sq mi of land
Median age
40.8
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Franklin County
Kentucky
Micro area
Nearest major airport
SDF
47 mi · Louisville Muhammad Ali Intl
Median home value
$216,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.4% — higher than in all but 38% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment grew 3.9% over the past year, to 26,396 employed residents.

32% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 80% of measured US counties.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$47,54315th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$53,15734th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$5,1582024 ACS 5-Year$65,298Top 50%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,9892024 ACS 5-Year$39,218Top 28%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$53,238Bottom 38%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year13.6%Bottom 44%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.9 min2024 ACS 5-Year21.8 minTop 24%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year31.9%Top 20%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year73.1%24th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202626,396Bottom 42%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+8.3%Top 2%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+3.9%Top 2%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202627,61841st percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year79.2%Top 32%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.7%2024 ACS 5-Year0.7%80th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.4%Top 38%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20264.4%Bottom 38%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year14.2%84th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/075.02.9
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.4% 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

202120222023202466k59k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $65,298 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.

41% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 50% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 15.2 students for every full-time teacher across 14 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
16
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
15.2
across 14 of them
Math proficiency
41.4%
Bottom 26% in Kentucky
Reading proficiency
50.3%
Bottom 18% in Kentucky
The 12 largest of 16 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Franklin County High SchoolFranklin County99018.331%48%
Western Hills High SchoolFranklin County82717.642%47%
Elkhorn Middle SchoolFranklin County72516.534%57%
Bondurant Middle SchoolFranklin County60015.038%56%
Second Street SchoolFrankfort Independent56513.851%56%
Collins LaneFranklin County50913.458%59%
Hearn ElementaryFranklin County47614.941%47%
Peaks Mill ElementaryFranklin County45314.664%55%
Elkhorn Elementary SchoolFranklin County40914.626%35%
Bridgeport Elementary SchoolFranklin County40212.637%37%
Early Learning VillageFranklin County36015.7——
Westridge ElementaryFranklin County35112.152%47%

56.1% 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 $1,716 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.79% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,083, some 12% above the $967 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,083 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $43,300 a year, about 66% of the median household income here of $65,298.

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 $967 a month.

A median home at $216,600 costs 2.5 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $86,105, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
27.3%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.5×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,083
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$967
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$216,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Franklin County’s median household income of $65,298, 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 ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year2.5Top 50%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year64.5%14th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±622024 ACS 5-Year24,16369th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$859Top 36%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,410Top 39%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,083Top 38%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$402024 ACS 5-Year$967Bottom 35%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$8,2452024 ACS 5-Year$216,60062nd percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$802024 ACS 5-Year$1,71655th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$5,9172024 ACS 5-Year$86,105Top 31%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.05%2024 ACS 5-Year0.79%50th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year27.3%Top 45%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±832024 ACS 5-Year9619th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.4%9th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year5.6%21st percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±3722024 ACS 5-Year1,44543rd 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

70/ 100
Top 14% of 1,453 published county profiles
The most recent move in permitting was downward, in a series running from 2022 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 2% since 2020, reaching 52,442 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before: 96 units authorized in 2025, 22% below the prior year.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 173 units permitted over the past twelve months, only 14% are in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Franklin County gained about 0.4% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $47,543, below the $53,157 of households that moved out.

At 3.3 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
173
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
3.3
Top 43% nationally
Year over year
+37%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
13.9%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202452k52k
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 2 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
+0.4%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
25%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$47,543
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$53,157
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Fayette County, KY 328 people · 14% of arrivals
  2. Scott County, KY 253 people · 10% of arrivals
  3. Anderson County, KY 242 people · 10.0% of arrivals
  4. Woodford County, KY 143 people · 5.9% of arrivals
  5. Shelby County, KY 135 people · 5.6% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Fayette County, KY 286 people · 13% of departures
  2. Anderson County, KY 241 people · 11% of departures
  3. Scott County, KY 170 people · 7.5% of departures
  4. Jefferson County, KY 141 people · 6.2% of departures
  5. Woodford County, KY 116 people · 5.1% 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

202220232024202512396
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2022 (−12%).

Weather & climate

7 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 88°F and January a low of 25°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 47.3 inches.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station FRANKFORT CAPITAL CITY AP, 3.9 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND5.1"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals47.3"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals25°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals88°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

58 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, tornado and strong wind, with inland flooding alone responsible for 56% of it.

Strong windModerate
TornadoModerate
Inland floodingElevated
EarthquakeModerate

Low or minimal exposure: ice storm, winter weather, lightning, cold wave, landslide, hail, heat wave, hurricane, drought, wildfire, avalanche, coastal flooding, tsunami, volcanic activity.

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.

Franklin County has a modeled homicide rate of about 3.9 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 13.0 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 23.2 per 100,000 residents in Franklin County.

Homicide
3.9
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
13.0
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
23.2
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
15.5
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 Franklin 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

2 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Louisville Muhammad Ali Intl at 47 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year86.4%Bottom 46%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle47 miBottom 34%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle2Bottom 15%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year7.8%Top 29%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Louisville Muhammad Ali IntlSDF47 mi11,887 ft
Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky IntlCVG57 mi10,000 ft
Wilmington Air ParkILN101 mi10,701 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
63
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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 Franklin 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.