Kenton County, KY

County Profile

171,288 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Kenton 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.

74out of 100
Area Score
Top 6% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
OpportunityTop 16% of 1,463 counties measured73
SchoolsTop 34% of 1,377 counties measured63
GrowthTop 14% of 1,453 counties measured70
Housing affordabilityTop 27% of 1,462 counties measured79
ClimateTop 48% of 1,463 counties measured69
Physical resilienceTop 19% of 1,463 counties measured80
AccessTop 7% of 1,463 counties measured98
Economic stabilityTop 38% of 1,463 counties measured69
The quick read

Kenton County ranks in the top 16% of counties measured for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 4.3% and median household income of $80,548.

In the public schools here, 49% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 16.7 students for every teacher.

664 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 4% 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
171,288
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$80,548
Top 17% nationally
Density
1,068/sq mi
160.4 sq mi of land
Median age
37.7
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Kenton County
Kentucky
Nearest major airport
CVG
11 mi · Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Intl
Median home value
$244,400
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.3% — higher than in all but 42% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment grew 1.7% over the past year, to 90,973 employed residents.

37% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 89% of measured US counties.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$65,42865th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$62,77363rd percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$2,9182024 ACS 5-Year$80,548Top 17%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,3992024 ACS 5-Year$43,733Top 15%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$75,111Top 13%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year11.6%Top 40%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.5 min2024 ACS 5-Year24.1 minTop 38%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year37.4%Top 11%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year75.0%33rd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202690,973Top 25%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+4.4%Top 11%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+1.7%Top 14%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202695,01775th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±0.9%2024 ACS 5-Year81.9%Top 18%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.3%2024 ACS 5-Year0.9%84th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.1%Bottom 47%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20264.3%Bottom 42%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year14.1%84th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/074.73.0
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.3% 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

202120222023202481k69k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $80,548 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 — Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Fast Food and Counter Workers30,950$29,720
General and Operations Managers29,330$100,670
Retail Salespersons28,670$30,810
Registered Nurses28,520$83,650
Stockers and Order Fillers26,870$37,810
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand22,910$40,240

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.

49% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 56% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 16.7 students for every full-time teacher across 37 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
42
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
16.7
across 37 of them
Math proficiency
49.0%
Top 26% in Kentucky
Reading proficiency
56.2%
Top 29% in Kentucky
The 12 largest of 42 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Simon Kenton High SchoolKenton County1,89323.753%55%
Dixie Heights High SchoolKenton County1,49922.750%56%
Summit View AcademyKenton County1,32416.155%64%
Scott High SchoolKenton County1,01720.840%50%
Turkey Foot Middle SchoolKenton County1,00621.952%62%
River Ridge Elementary SchoolKenton County88914.857%60%
Holmes High SchoolCovington Independent85513.612%22%
Beechwood Elementary SchoolBeechwood Independent78019.570%74%
Twenhofel Middle SchoolKenton County77519.457%67%
Beechwood High SchoolBeechwood Independent76219.172%78%
Lloyd High SchoolErlanger-Elsmere Independent71119.827%42%
White's Tower Elementary SchoolKenton County67516.171%72%

53.7% 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.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 6% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 94.2, 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 Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN Metro Area is up 50% 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 $2,395 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.98% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,353, some 27% above the $1,069 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,353 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $54,100 a year, about 67% of the median household income here of $80,548.

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 $1,069 a month.

A median home at $244,400 costs 2.4 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $101,544, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Cost of living
94.2

Prices here run about 6% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Cincinnati, OH-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
27.3%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.4×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,353
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,069
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$244,400
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Kenton County’s median household income of $80,548, 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 Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN Metro Area’s figure202394.2Top 49%of 8872023
Home price change (1 year)the Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+3.8%57th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+49.9%69th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+105.8%70th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.12024 ACS 5-Year2.4Top 45%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year70.7%32nd percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±562024 ACS 5-Year73,22187th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,051Bottom 40%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,785Bottom 31%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,353Bottom 32%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$302024 ACS 5-Year$1,069Bottom 25%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$4,4232024 ACS 5-Year$244,40071st percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$582024 ACS 5-Year$2,39574th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$3,2412024 ACS 5-Year$101,544Top 12%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.03%2024 ACS 5-Year0.98%63rd percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year27.3%Top 45%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±1322024 ACS 5-Year28544th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.4%8th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year7.6%38th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±5832024 ACS 5-Year5,85483rd 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

70/ 100
Top 14% of 1,453 published county profiles
The most recent move in permitting was broadly flat, 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 3% since 2020, reaching 174,862 in 2024.

Federal tax returns show Kenton County gained about 0.3% 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 $65,428, close to the $62,773 of households that moved out.

At 3.9 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
664
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
3.9
Top 38% nationally
Year over year
+4%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
28.3%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

20202021202220232024175k169k
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
+0.3%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
46%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$65,428
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$62,773
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Boone County, KY 2,606 people · 27% of arrivals
  2. Hamilton County, OH 1,554 people · 16% of arrivals
  3. Campbell County, KY 1,451 people · 15% of arrivals
  4. Grant County, KY 290 people · 3.0% of arrivals
  5. Clermont County, OH 238 people · 2.4% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Boone County, KY 2,648 people · 28% of departures
  2. Hamilton County, OH 1,361 people · 15% of departures
  3. Campbell County, KY 1,352 people · 14% of departures
  4. Grant County, KY 262 people · 2.8% of departures
  5. Clermont County, OH 226 people · 2.4% 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

202020212022202320242025699311
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2020 (+119%).

Weather & climate

6 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 86°F and January a low of 23°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 45.3 inches, including 23.3 inches of snow.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station CINCINNATI NORTHERN KY AP, 10.8 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.8"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals45.3"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals23.3"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals23°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals86°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals61991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals45°F1991-2020 Normals

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

Physical risk

80 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, tornado and cold wave, with inland flooding alone responsible for 45% of it. Inland flooding and cold wave are independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large those hazards are.

Overall hazard risk is lower than 81% of measured US counties.

TornadoElevated

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

Kenton County has a modeled homicide rate of about 2.6 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 13.4 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 23.3 per 100,000 residents in Kenton County.

Homicide
2.6
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
13.4
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
23.3
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
16.9
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 Kenton 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.
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. 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

4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Intl at 11 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±0.8%2024 ACS 5-Year92.0%Top 14%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle11 miTop 11%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle4Top 43%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±0.7%2024 ACS 5-Year5.5%Top 13%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky IntlCVG11 mi10,000 ft
Wilmington Air ParkILN53 mi10,701 ft
James M Cox Dayton IntlDAY69 mi8,502 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
74
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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
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.