Covington, Kentucky

Area Profile

41,110 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Covington, in Kenton County.

65out of 100
Area Score
Top 29% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 15 sources
OpportunityTop 33% of 4,199 cities measured65
Schools3,738th of 4,162 cities measured18
GrowthTop 5% of 4,224 cities measured79
Housing affordabilityTop 30% of 4,218 cities measured73
Climate2,264th of 4,225 cities measured69
Physical resilienceTop 26% of 4,226 cities measured78
AccessTop 21% of 4,226 cities measured98
Economic stability3,723rd of 4,226 cities measured32
The quick read

Unemployment is 4.4% and median household income $61,166, putting employment conditions in the middle range of cities measured.

In the public schools here, 31% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 13.9 students for every teacher.

Development activity is both elevated and accelerating — 242 housing units permitted over the past twelve months, up 85% 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
41,110
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$61,166
Bottom 41% nationally
Density
3,123/sq mi
13.2 sq mi of land
Median age
37.6
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Kentucky
Nearest major airport
CVG
8 mi · Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Intl
Median home value
$187,300
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.4% — higher than in all but 47% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment grew 1.7% over the past year, to 21,356 employed residents.

32% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 73% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsKenton County, KY’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$65,42836th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftKenton County, KY’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$62,77330th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$4,2632024 ACS 5-Year$61,166Bottom 41%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,4852024 ACS 5-Year$37,216Top 39%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year20.1%Bottom 22%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.9 min2024 ACS 5-Year23.3 minTop 32%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year32.2%Top 27%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year71.5%32nd percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202621,356Bottom 25%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+3.9%Top 9%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+1.7%Top 11%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202622,34025th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year77.5%Bottom 47%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wageCincinnati, OH-KY-IN Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$67,370Bottom 46%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Median annual wageCincinnati, OH-KY-IN Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$50,170Bottom 44%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±1.0%2024 ACS 5-Year2.6%92nd percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.2%Top 50%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20264.4%Bottom 47%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year14.1%74th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/074.93.0
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.4% 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

202120222023202461k48k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $61,166 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.

31% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 41% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 13.9 students for every full-time teacher across 7 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
10
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
13.9
across 7 of them
Math proficiency
30.7%
Bottom 4% in Kentucky
Reading proficiency
41.2%
Bottom 4% in Kentucky
All 10 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Holmes High SchoolCovington Independent85513.612%22%
Holmes Middle SchoolCovington Independent63114.723%36%
Ft Wright Elementary SchoolKenton County46912.347%54%
Sixth District Elementary SchoolCovington Independent45413.429%42%
Glenn O Swing ElementaryCovington Independent39211.961%70%
John G Carlisle ElementaryCovington Independent33313.337%47%
Biggs Early Childhood Education CtrCovington Independent28528.5——
Chapman Vocational Education CenterCovington Independent0———
Northern KY Technical CollegeKenton County0———
Northern Kentucky TECHKenton County0———

80.0% 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 $2,085 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.11% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,326, some 32% above the $1,006 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,326 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $53,000 a year, about 87% of the median household income here of $61,166.

The typical renter household here spends 30% of its income on rent, at the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,006 a month.

A median home at $187,300 costs 2.3 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $82,024, 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
29.6%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.3×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,326
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,006
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$187,300
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Covington’s median household income of $61,166, 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 22%of 3,7002023
Home price change (1 year)the Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+3.8%63rd percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+49.9%78th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+105.8%70th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year2.3Top 43%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year51.8%11th percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±4402024 ACS 5-Year21,04897th percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,030Top 25%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,746Top 32%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,326Top 29%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$572024 ACS 5-Year$1,006Bottom 47%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$10,6762024 ACS 5-Year$187,30050th percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1262024 ACS 5-Year$2,08558th percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$5,6332024 ACS 5-Year$82,024Top 46%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.09%2024 ACS 5-Year1.11%59th percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year29.6%Bottom 43%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±982024 ACS 5-Year15092nd percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.7%59th percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year12.5%73rd percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±3512024 ACS 5-Year2,78398th percentileof 32,3302024 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

79/ 100
Top 5% of 4,224 published city profiles
Permitting has been rising for the last 2 years of 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 2% since 2020, reaching 41,611 in 2024.

Federal tax returns show Kenton County, which contains Covington, 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 5.9 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
242
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
5.9
Top 24% nationally
Year over year
+85%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
51.7%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202442k41k
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 3 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. This is the figure for Kenton County, KY. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

2020202120222023202420252690.0
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey.

Weather & climate

6 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 87°F and January a low of 24°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 43.4 inches.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station CINCINNATI LUNKEN AP, 7.2 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.7"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals43.4"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals24°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals87°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals61991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals44°F1991-2020 Normals

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

Physical risk

78 / 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 74% of measured US cities.

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). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Violent crime
290
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
1,400
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year

Below these are deaths rather than offenses, published for the county. The two measure different things and are not comparable with each other.

Covington's police department reported 290 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, near the middle of places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 1,400.

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.

Offenses are reported to the FBI by Covington’s own police department and shown only where it reported every month of the year; a partial year is withheld rather than scaled up. Reported crime is what police recorded, which is not the same as what happened. 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 the county around Covington (Kenton County) rather than Covington itself. Neither is part of the Area Score. How to read crime rates and 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.

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 8 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year86.9%Bottom 38%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle8 miTop 19%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle4Bottom 38%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year8.7%Bottom 43%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky IntlCVG8 mi10,000 ft
Wilmington Air ParkILN47 mi10,701 ft
James M Cox Dayton IntlDAY62 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
65
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Other cities in Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
CincinnatiHamilton County311,22464Cincinnati vs Covington
HamiltonButler County63,46862Hamilton vs Covington
MiddletownButler County51,61763Middletown vs Covington
FairfieldButler County44,82862
MasonWarren County35,50980
FlorenceBoone County32,80371
IndependenceKenton County29,39278
OxfordButler County21,75362
LebanonWarren County21,50172
Forest ParkHamilton County20,02563
SpringboroWarren County19,98080
ErlangerKenton County19,87567

Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.

Compare

Put Covington side by side with a similar place.

Covington vs MiddletownCovington vs East Point

Moving to Covington from somewhere else?

You get the difference in prices, rent and weather, and the income that would keep pace.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
SafetyFederal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer
Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency
2025 calendar year
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
HousingU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWS
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
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 codes in Covington

2 ZIP areas

Every ZIP area in Covington with census figures of its own, largest first.

ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeMedian home valueArea Score
4101126,981$69,970$304,20069
410147,392$61,382$164,70064