Scott County, KY

County Profile

59,536 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Scott 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.

72out of 100
Area Score
Top 10% 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 39% of 1,377 counties measured58
GrowthTop 38% of 1,453 counties measured57
Housing affordabilityTop 27% of 1,462 counties measured79
ClimateTop 28% of 1,463 counties measured74
Physical resilienceTop 13% of 1,463 counties measured85
Access1,046th of 1,463 counties measured70
Economic stabilityTop 23% of 1,463 counties measured78
The quick read

Scott County ranks in the top 16% of counties measured for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 4.3% and median household income of $85,158.

In the public schools here, 47% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 16.2 students for every teacher.

Residential permitting has slowed: 307 units authorized over the past twelve months, 40% below 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
59,536
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$85,158
Top 13% nationally
Density
211/sq mi
282.2 sq mi of land
Median age
36.4
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Scott County
Kentucky
Nearest major airport
CVG
53 mi · Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Intl
Median home value
$288,500
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 1.4% over the past year, to 31,313 employed residents.

35% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 85% of measured US counties.

Median household income of $85,158 is higher than in 87% of measured US counties.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$63,11461st percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$60,41658th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$3,6342024 ACS 5-Year$85,158Top 13%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,1572024 ACS 5-Year$41,521Top 21%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$56,549Top 49%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year10.3%Top 29%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.9 min2024 ACS 5-Year24.2 minTop 39%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year34.7%Top 15%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year77.3%48th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202631,313Bottom 48%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+4.9%Top 9%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+1.4%Top 16%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202632,72848th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year80.8%Top 23%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 2026−0.2%Top 47%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20264.3%Bottom 42%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year10.5%67th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/074.72.8
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

202120222023202485k73k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $85,158 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 — Lexington-Fayette, KY

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators8,650$59,730
General and Operations Managers8,100$80,440
Registered Nurses8,070$79,040
Retail Salespersons7,810$30,100
Fast Food and Counter Workers5,500$27,990
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand5,500$41,910

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.

47% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 58% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 16.2 students for every full-time teacher across 16 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
17
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
16.2
across 16 of them
Math proficiency
46.9%
Top 45% in Kentucky
Reading proficiency
58.1%
Top 21% in Kentucky
The 12 largest of 17 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Great Crossing High SchoolScott County1,67721.0——
Scott County High SchoolScott County1,39219.945%52%
Scott County Middle SchoolScott County83717.455%75%
Royal Spring Middle SchoolScott County71915.341%65%
Western Elementary SchoolScott County62315.262%64%
Creekside ElementaryScott County57415.1——
Georgetown Middle SchoolScott County55514.229%53%
Lemons Mill Elementary SchoolScott County54014.252%57%
Eastern Elementary SchoolScott County53516.242%57%
Southern Elementary SchoolScott County46214.035%46%
Stamping Ground Elementary SchoolScott County41814.442%54%
Northern Elementary SchoolScott County41414.366%65%

50.1% 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 92.5, 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 Lexington-Fayette, KY Metro Area is up 53% over five years, and up 6.1% 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 $1,908 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.66% 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, close to the $1,247 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 60% of the median household income here of $85,158.

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 $1,247 a month.

A median home at $288,500 costs 2.8 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $104,088, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Cost of living
92.5

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 Lexington-Fayette, KY 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
2.8×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,272
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,247
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$288,500
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Scott County’s median household income of $85,158, 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 Lexington-Fayette, KY Metro Area’s figure202392.5Top 38%of 8872023
Home price change (1 year)the Lexington-Fayette, KY Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+6.1%89th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Lexington-Fayette, KY Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+52.5%80th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Lexington-Fayette, KY Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+103.3%66th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year2.8Bottom 37%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year71.7%36th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±652024 ACS 5-Year23,72569th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,079Bottom 37%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,743Bottom 34%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,272Bottom 40%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$602024 ACS 5-Year$1,247Bottom 15%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$8,9562024 ACS 5-Year$288,50079th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$572024 ACS 5-Year$1,90862nd percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$6,7032024 ACS 5-Year$104,088Top 11%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.03%2024 ACS 5-Year0.66%36th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year27.3%Top 45%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±872024 ACS 5-Year11222nd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.5%11th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year4.1%8th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±2502024 ACS 5-Year1,08334th 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

57/ 100
Top 38% 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 7% since 2020, reaching 61,700 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before: 393 units authorized in 2025, 28% below the prior year.

Population is still rising but the pace is easing: 61,700 residents in 2024, up 1.8% over the year, a smaller gain than the year before.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 307 units permitted over the past twelve months, only 7% are in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Scott County gained about 1.0% 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 $63,114, close to the $60,416 of households that moved out.

At 5.2 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
307
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
5.2
Top 27% nationally
Year over year
−40%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
6.8%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202462k58k
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
+1.0%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
29%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$63,114
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$60,416
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Fayette County, KY 975 people · 26% of arrivals
  2. Franklin County, KY 170 people · 4.6% of arrivals
  3. Harrison County, KY 154 people · 4.1% of arrivals
  4. Madison County, KY 121 people · 3.2% of arrivals
  5. Bourbon County, KY 120 people · 3.2% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Fayette County, KY 645 people · 20% of departures
  2. Franklin County, KY 253 people · 7.8% of departures
  3. Harrison County, KY 250 people · 7.7% of departures
  4. Madison County, KY 101 people · 3.1% of departures
  5. Jefferson County, KY 88 people · 2.7% 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

202020212022202320242025591307
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2020 (+8%).

Weather & climate

7 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 84°F and January a low of 25°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 48.1 inches.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station VERSAILLES 3 NNW, 16.1 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND5.7"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals48.1"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals25°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals84°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals71991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals42°F1991-2020 Normals

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

Physical risk

85 / 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 45% 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.

Overall hazard risk is lower than 87% of measured US counties.

Strong windModerate
TornadoModerate
EarthquakeModerate
Cold waveModerate

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

Scott County has a modeled homicide rate of about 3.1 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 13.7 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 18.0 per 100,000 residents in Scott County.

Homicide
3.1
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
13.7
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
18.0
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Suicide
16.6
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 Scott 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

3 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Intl at 53 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year92.0%Top 14%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle53 miBottom 28%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle3Bottom 35%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±1.0%2024 ACS 5-Year4.8%Top 9%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky IntlCVG53 mi10,000 ft
Louisville Muhammad Ali IntlSDF63 mi11,887 ft
Wilmington Air ParkILN90 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.

Customize your score

What matters to you?

Choose what you weight most heavily. Nothing is saved to an account — your preferences stay in this browser, and the Area Score never changes.

Area Score
72
Your Score
—

Select one or more priorities to see how this location scores against them.

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 September 26, 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 Scott County, KY