Jefferson County, KY

County Profile

783,022 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Jefferson 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 37% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
OpportunityTop 45% of 1,463 counties measured57
Schools1,326th of 1,377 counties measured9
GrowthTop 48% of 1,453 counties measured51
Housing affordabilityTop 42% of 1,462 counties measured75
ClimateTop 19% of 1,463 counties measured76
Physical resilience941st of 1,463 counties measured49
AccessTop 11% of 1,463 counties measured97
Economic stabilityTop 50% of 1,463 counties measured61
The quick read

Unemployment is 5.2% and median household income $69,866, putting employment conditions in the middle range of counties measured.

In the public schools here, 37% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 15.7 students for every teacher.

2,671 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 6% of the prior year — steady rather than turning.

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
783,022
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$69,866
Top 37% nationally
Density
2,056/sq mi
380.8 sq mi of land
Median age
38.4
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Jefferson County
Kentucky
Nearest major airport
SDF
4 mi · Louisville Muhammad Ali Intl
Median home value
$248,400
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 5.2% — higher than in all but 17% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment grew 0.6% over the past year, to 385,703 employed residents.

37% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 88% of measured US counties.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$60,47655th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$74,76082nd percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$1,2282024 ACS 5-Year$69,866Top 37%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$5912024 ACS 5-Year$42,087Top 19%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$67,876Top 20%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±0.7%2024 ACS 5-Year13.5%Bottom 45%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.3 min2024 ACS 5-Year23.7 minTop 36%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±0.6%2024 ACS 5-Year37.0%Top 12%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±0.7%2024 ACS 5-Year72.4%22nd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 2026385,703Top 6%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+2.6%Top 21%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+0.6%Top 27%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 2026406,76294th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±0.5%2024 ACS 5-Year80.3%Top 26%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.2%2024 ACS 5-Year1.5%92nd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026+0.2%Bottom 27%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20265.2%Bottom 17%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±0.5%2024 ACS 5-Year14.2%84th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/075.83.2
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 5.2% 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

202120222023202470k62k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $69,866 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.

Largest occupations — Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand29,400$46,830
Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators20,920$48,440
Registered Nurses18,180$84,850
Retail Salespersons17,540$30,660
General and Operations Managers16,830$89,140
Stockers and Order Fillers16,410$37,610

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

37% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 45% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 15.7 students for every full-time teacher across 155 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
172
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
15.7
across 155 of them
Math proficiency
36.6%
Bottom 3% in Kentucky
Reading proficiency
44.8%
Bottom 3% in Kentucky
The 12 largest of 172 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Ballard HighJefferson County2,14819.251%55%
duPont Manual HighJefferson County1,89916.885%88%
Marion C. Moore SchoolJefferson County1,89214.317%36%
Eastern HighJefferson County1,79016.651%57%
Pleasure Ridge Park HighJefferson County1,77719.719%32%
Louisville Male HighJefferson County1,76319.457%64%
Southern HighJefferson County1,72517.612%19%
Fern Creek HighJefferson County1,52515.320%28%
Atherton HighJefferson County1,46618.360%73%
Fairdale HighJefferson County1,40515.621%26%
Iroquois HighJefferson County1,30116.16%7%
Butler Traditional HighJefferson County1,29016.532%35%

61.1% 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.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 7% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 93.2, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN Metro Area is up 40% over five years, and up 3.8% 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 $2,136 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.86% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,272, some 11% above the $1,149 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,272 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $50,900 a year, about 73% of the median household income here of $69,866.

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 $1,149 a month.

A median home at $248,400 costs 2.7 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $90,548, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Cost of living
93.2

Prices here run about 7% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
28.8%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.7×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,272
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,149
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$248,400
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Jefferson County’s median household income of $69,866, 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
Cost of living indexthe Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN Metro Area’s figure202393.2Top 43%of 8872023
Home price change (1 year)the Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+3.8%57th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+40.2%29th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+87.2%36th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.12024 ACS 5-Year2.7Bottom 38%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±0.6%2024 ACS 5-Year62.1%10th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±2162024 ACS 5-Year359,71098th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,047Bottom 40%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,625Bottom 44%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,272Bottom 40%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$132024 ACS 5-Year$1,149Bottom 20%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$2,4962024 ACS 5-Year$248,40072nd percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$342024 ACS 5-Year$2,13668th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$1,4672024 ACS 5-Year$90,548Top 23%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.02%2024 ACS 5-Year0.86%55th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±0.6%2024 ACS 5-Year28.8%Bottom 40%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±4972024 ACS 5-Year2,42487th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.7%17th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year7.2%34th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±1,6072024 ACS 5-Year28,15698th 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 and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

51/ 100
Top 48% of 1,453 published county profiles
The most recent move in permitting was upward, 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 1% since 2020, reaching 793,881 in 2024.

Permitting has turned upward after moving the other way the year before: 3,001 units authorized in 2025, up 6% on the prior year.

Federal tax returns show Jefferson County lost about 0.7% 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 $60,476, below the $74,760 of households that moved out.

At 3.4 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
2,671
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
3.4
Top 43% nationally
Year over year
−6%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
53.8%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

20202021202220232024794k777k
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
−0.7%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
63%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$60,476
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$74,760
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Bullitt County, KY 1,950 people · 8.0% of arrivals
  2. Oldham County, KY 1,292 people · 5.3% of arrivals
  3. Clark County, IN 1,063 people · 4.3% of arrivals
  4. Hardin County, KY 751 people · 3.1% of arrivals
  5. Fayette County, KY 712 people · 2.9% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Bullitt County, KY 2,795 people · 9.8% of departures
  2. Oldham County, KY 1,896 people · 6.7% of departures
  3. Clark County, IN 1,731 people · 6.1% of departures
  4. Floyd County, IN 1,054 people · 3.7% of departures
  5. Shelby County, KY 1,038 people · 3.6% 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

2020202120222023202420254k1k
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2020 (+137%).

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 27°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 48.1 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 50, in the Good band, and about 12 days a year pass 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

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

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND5.2"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year712024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals48.1"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals27°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals88°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals71991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year122024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year502024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals44°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
50
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
71
90th percentile index
Days above 100
12
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

49 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, tornado and earthquake, with inland flooding alone responsible for 62% of it. Tornado is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

Inland floodingElevated
EarthquakeElevated

Low or minimal exposure: tornado, heat wave, cold wave, winter weather, lightning, strong wind, hail, ice storm, wildfire, hurricane, landslide, drought, 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.

Jefferson County records 14.5 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, higher than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 22.3 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 30.7 per 100,000 residents in Jefferson County.

Homicide
14.5
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
22.3
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
30.7
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
14.4
per 100,000 residents

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 Jefferson 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.
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. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. 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 Louisville Muhammad Ali Intl at 4 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±0.4%2024 ACS 5-Year90.9%Top 20%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle4 miTop 2%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle3Bottom 35%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±0.3%2024 ACS 5-Year6.3%Top 19%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Louisville Muhammad Ali IntlSDF4 mi11,887 ft
Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky IntlCVG80 mi10,000 ft
Owensboro/Daviess County RgnlOWB88 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
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
Housing, 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
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar year
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.

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.