Warren County, KY

County Profile

140,918 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Warren 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.

60out of 100
Area Score
Top 45% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
OpportunityTop 40% of 1,463 counties measured60
SchoolsTop 47% of 1,377 counties measured53
GrowthTop 5% of 1,453 counties measured78
Housing affordabilityTop 45% of 1,462 counties measured75
ClimateTop 26% of 1,463 counties measured74
Physical resilience1,204th of 1,463 counties measured31
Access1,129th of 1,463 counties measured66
Economic stability820th of 1,463 counties measured57
The quick read

Unemployment is 4.8% and median household income $65,794, putting employment conditions in the middle range of counties measured.

In the public schools here, 46% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 16.6 students for every teacher.

Development activity is both elevated and accelerating — 1,296 housing units permitted over the past twelve months, up 27% on the prior year. That follows a longer stretch moving the other way, through 2025.

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
140,918
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$65,794
Top 49% nationally
Density
260/sq mi
541.7 sq mi of land
Median age
33.3
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Warren County
Kentucky
Nearest major airport
BNA
62 mi · Nashville Intl
Median home value
$258,000
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.8% — higher than in all but 26% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment grew 0.9% over the past year, to 71,176 employed residents.

32% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 81% of measured US counties.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$52,41430th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$54,32839th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$2,6432024 ACS 5-Year$65,794Top 49%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,9632024 ACS 5-Year$35,497Top 47%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$48,061Bottom 17%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year14.8%Bottom 38%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.7 min2024 ACS 5-Year21.6 minTop 23%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year32.3%Top 19%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year75.8%38th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202671,176Top 31%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+5.2%Top 8%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+0.9%Top 22%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202674,78470th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year79.1%Top 33%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 20264.8%Bottom 26%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±0.9%2024 ACS 5-Year7.6%40th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/075.23.1
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.8% 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

202120222023202466k58k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $65,794 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 — Bowling Green, KY

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Retail Salespersons2,720$28,430
Fast Food and Counter Workers2,540$27,650
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand2,070$38,040
Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators2,030$42,940
General and Operations Managers2,010$71,170
Registered Nurses1,870$79,120

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.

46% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 56% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 16.6 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
16.6
across 37 of them
Math proficiency
46.0%
Top 50% in Kentucky
Reading proficiency
56.3%
Top 26% in Kentucky
The 12 largest of 42 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
South Warren High SchoolWarren County1,54819.152%67%
Greenwood High SchoolWarren County1,45119.146%56%
Bowling Green High SchoolBowling Green Independent1,37717.946%56%
Warren Central High SchoolWarren County1,07015.724%31%
Bowling Green Junior HighBowling Green Independent1,04218.352%59%
Rich Pond ElementaryWarren County99018.068%72%
Warren East High SchoolWarren County96717.337%52%
Lost River ElementaryWarren County85617.531%47%
Jennings Creek ElementaryWarren County85215.827%37%
South Warren Middle SchoolWarren County80518.772%82%
Alvaton ElementaryWarren County78517.465%70%
Jody Richards ElementaryWarren County75416.455%70%

60.7% 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 10% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 89.9, 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 Bowling Green, KY Metro Area is up 45% over five years, and up 2.8% 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 $1,668 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.65% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,153, some 15% above the $1,002 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,153 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $46,100 a year, about 70% of the median household income here of $65,794.

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 $1,002 a month.

A median home at $258,000 costs 2.8 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $93,250, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Cost of living
89.9

Prices here run about 10% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Bowling Green, 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
29.1%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.8×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,153
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,002
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$258,000
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Warren County’s median household income of $65,794, 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 Bowling Green, KY Metro Area’s figure202389.9Top 19%of 8872023
Home price change (1 year)the Bowling Green, KY Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+2.8%31st percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Bowling Green, KY Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+45.1%51st percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Bowling Green, KY Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+90.0%44th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.12024 ACS 5-Year2.8Bottom 37%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year55.6%4th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±632024 ACS 5-Year59,86885th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$985Bottom 47%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,384Top 37%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,153Top 47%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$312024 ACS 5-Year$1,002Bottom 31%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$8,3192024 ACS 5-Year$258,00074th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$752024 ACS 5-Year$1,66853rd percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$3,5422024 ACS 5-Year$93,250Top 20%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.04%2024 ACS 5-Year0.65%34th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year29.1%Bottom 36%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±1552024 ACS 5-Year37952nd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.6%15th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year6.4%28th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±5692024 ACS 5-Year4,22576th 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

78/ 100
Top 5% 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 10% since 2020, reaching 147,936 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before: 1,453 units authorized in 2025, 36% below the prior year.

Federal tax returns show Warren County gained about 0.6% 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 $52,414, close to the $54,328 of households that moved out.

At 9.2 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
1,296
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
9.2
Top 9% nationally
Year over year
+27%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
53.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

20202021202220232024148k135k
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
+0.6%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
53%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$52,414
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$54,328
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Barren County, KY 355 people · 5.3% of arrivals
  2. Simpson County, KY 303 people · 4.5% of arrivals
  3. Logan County, KY 299 people · 4.4% of arrivals
  4. Allen County, KY 275 people · 4.1% of arrivals
  5. Edmonson County, KY 237 people · 3.5% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Barren County, KY 359 people · 5.9% of departures
  2. Allen County, KY 317 people · 5.2% of departures
  3. Logan County, KY 310 people · 5.1% of departures
  4. Simpson County, KY 284 people · 4.7% of departures
  5. Edmonson County, KY 281 people · 4.6% 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

20222023202420252k1k
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2022 (−11%).

Weather & climate

7 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 90°F and January a low of 28°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 50.1 inches, including 8.5 inches of snow.

Air quality measures a median index of 39, in the Good band, and no day in the year passed 100.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station BOWLING GREEN WARREN CO AP, 2.1 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND5.0"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year542024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals50.1"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals8.5"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals28°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals90°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals71991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year02024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year392024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals42°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
39
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
54
90th percentile index
Days above 100
0
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

31 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, hail and tornado, with inland flooding alone responsible for 40% of it. Tornado is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

HailHigh
EarthquakeElevated
Ice stormModerate
Inland floodingElevated

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

Warren County has a modeled homicide rate of about 3.5 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 12.7 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 12.0 per 100,000 residents in Warren County.

Homicide
3.5
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
12.7
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
12.0
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
15.5
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 Warren 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

5 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Nashville Intl at 62 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year91.4%Top 17%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle62 miBottom 19%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle5Top 26%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±0.8%2024 ACS 5-Year5.6%Top 14%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Nashville IntlBNA62 mi11,030 ft
Owensboro/Daviess County RgnlOWB66 mi8,000 ft
SmyrnaMQY68 mi8,038 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
60
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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.

Cities in Warren 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.