Hopkins County, KY

County Profile

45,119 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Hopkins 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.

56out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 38% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
Opportunity1,184th of 1,463 counties measured38
SchoolsTop 41% of 1,377 counties measured57
GrowthTop 25% of 1,453 counties measured64
Housing affordabilityTop 42% of 1,462 counties measured75
ClimateTop 24% of 1,463 counties measured75
Physical resilience1,038th of 1,463 counties measured43
AccessTop 48% of 1,463 counties measured82
Economic stability1,338th of 1,463 counties measured23
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable counties measured: unemployment is 5.0% and the Opportunity signal places Hopkins County in the bottom 19%.

In the public schools here, 47% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 15.2 students for every teacher.

Development activity is both elevated and accelerating — 210 housing units permitted over the past twelve months, up 67% on the prior year.

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
45,119
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$56,815
Bottom 27% nationally
Density
83/sq mi
542.2 sq mi of land
Median age
41.3
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Hopkins County
Kentucky
Nearest major airport
OWB
36 mi · Owensboro/Daviess County Rgnl
Median home value
$142,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 5.0% — higher than in all but 21% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment grew 0.5% over the past year, to 18,375 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$43,9667th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$50,50925th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$3,9272024 ACS 5-Year$56,815Bottom 27%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,3102024 ACS 5-Year$29,287Bottom 21%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$49,912Bottom 23%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year19.6%Bottom 17%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.2 min2024 ACS 5-Year23.1 minTop 32%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year16.9%Bottom 22%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year88.4%98th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202618,375Bottom 28%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+0.9%Top 39%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+0.5%Top 31%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202619,34728th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year68.2%Bottom 21%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.0%2024 ACS 5-Year0.0%26th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.4%Top 32%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20265.0%Bottom 21%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year3.7%8th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/076.63.4
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 5.0% 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

202120222023202458k49k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $56,815 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.

47% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 55% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 15.2 students for every full-time teacher across 15 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
20
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
15.2
across 15 of them
Math proficiency
47.3%
Top 39% in Kentucky
Reading proficiency
55.4%
Top 39% in Kentucky
The 12 largest of 20 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Madisonville North Hopkins High SchoolHopkins County1,02316.542%52%
Hopkins County Central High SchoolHopkins County86114.132%37%
Southside Elementary SchoolHopkins County54915.352%54%
Hanson Elementary SchoolHopkins County53216.664%64%
West Broadway Elementary SchoolHopkins County48617.467%62%
Jesse Stuart Elementary SchoolHopkins County48615.752%61%
James Madison Middle SchoolHopkins County46618.653%67%
Browning Springs Middle SchoolHopkins County44315.340%59%
Pride Elementary SchoolHopkins County40416.264%71%
Dawson Springs ElementaryDawson Springs Independent34215.542%42%
Grapevine Elementary SchoolHopkins County31812.737%47%
South Hopkins Middle SchoolHopkins County30012.545%64%

56.8% 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 $1,104 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.77% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $900, some 8% above the $837 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $900 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $36,000 a year, about 63% of the median household income here of $56,815.

The typical renter household here spends 29% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $837 a month.

A median home at $142,800 costs 2.1 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $68,614, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
28.8%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.1×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$900
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$837
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$142,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Hopkins County’s median household income of $56,815, 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-Year2.1Top 26%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year70.7%31st percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±372024 ACS 5-Year21,00166th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$686Top 5%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,163Top 9%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$900Top 7%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$522024 ACS 5-Year$837Top 43%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$10,5392024 ACS 5-Year$142,80027th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$572024 ACS 5-Year$1,10428th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$4,4052024 ACS 5-Year$68,614Bottom 32%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.07%2024 ACS 5-Year0.77%48th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year28.8%Bottom 40%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±1602024 ACS 5-Year25241st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year1.2%29th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year11.2%64th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±4122024 ACS 5-Year2,60462nd 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

64/ 100
Top 25% of 1,453 published county profiles
The most recent move in permitting was upward, 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 been broadly flat since 2020, at 45,218 in 2024.

Permitting has turned upward after moving the other way the year before: 201 units authorized in 2025, up 65% on the prior year.

Federal tax returns show that people moving in from elsewhere in the US and people moving out roughly balanced across Hopkins County in the most recent year. Households that moved in reported an average income of $43,966, below the $50,509 of households that moved out.

At 4.7 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
210
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
4.7
Top 31% nationally
Year over year
+67%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
31.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202445k45k
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
−0.1%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
43%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$43,966
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$50,509
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Webster County, KY 217 people · 14% of arrivals
  2. Christian County, KY 108 people · 6.8% of arrivals
  3. Muhlenberg County, KY 79 people · 5.0% of arrivals
  4. Caldwell County, KY 69 people · 4.4% of arrivals
  5. Henderson County, KY 54 people · 3.4% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Webster County, KY 201 people · 12% of departures
  2. Muhlenberg County, KY 99 people · 6.1% of departures
  3. Christian County, KY 95 people · 5.9% of departures
  4. Henderson County, KY 87 people · 5.4% of departures
  5. Caldwell County, KY 73 people · 4.5% 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

2022202320242025201121
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2022 (+66%).

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 28°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 52.2 inches.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station MADISONVILLE, 2.7 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND5.3"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals52.2"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals28°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

43 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, earthquake and tornado, with inland flooding alone responsible for 37% of it.

Ice stormElevated
Strong windElevated
EarthquakeElevated
HailElevated
Winter weatherModerate
TornadoModerate
DroughtModerate
Inland floodingModerate
Cold waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: lightning, heat wave, landslide, hurricane, wildfire, coastal flooding, avalanche, 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.

Hopkins County has a modeled homicide rate of about 5.5 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 14.4 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 12.5 per 100,000 residents in Hopkins County.

Homicide
5.5
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
14.4
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
12.5
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Suicide
20.4
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 Hopkins 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

4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Owensboro/Daviess County Rgnl at 36 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year89.8%Top 28%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle36 miBottom 49%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle4Top 43%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year8.6%Top 36%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Owensboro/Daviess County RgnlOWB36 mi8,000 ft
Evansville RgnlEVV50 mi8,021 ft
Veterans Airport of Southern IllinoisMWA86 mi8,012 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
56
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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 Hopkins County, KY