AreaProfile

42701Elizabethtown, Kentucky

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 42701.

64
Area Score
Top 45% of 3,833 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity3400th of 4,073 published ZIP areas38
GrowthTop 41% of 3,947 published ZIP areas55
Housing affordabilityTop 22% of 4,553 published ZIP areas92
ClimateTop 37% of 4,621 published ZIP areas74
Physical resilienceTop 38% of 4,554 published ZIP areas69
Access3742nd of 4,623 published ZIP areas82
Economic stability2992nd of 4,591 published ZIP areas52
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable published ZIP profiles: unemployment is 6.4% and the Opportunity signal places 42701 in the bottom 17%.

Residential permitting has slowed: 164 units authorized over the past twelve months, 74% below the prior year.

Its Area Score of 64 places 42701 in the top 45% of published ZIP profiles.

At a glance

Population
53,987
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$69,619
Bottom 46% nationally
Density
333/sq mi
162.1 sq mi of land
Median age
38.1
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
Elizabethtown
Kentucky
Metro area
Elizabethtown, KY
Nearest major airport
SDF
33 mi · Louisville Muhammad Ali Intl
Median home value
$260,300
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 6.4% is lower than 6% of the 4,387 measured US ZIP areas.

Employment fell 2.3% over the past year, to 15,111 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$4,133$69,619Bottom 46%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$4,825$41,340Top 35%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate13.5%Top 37%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute22.7 minBottom 23%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher28.0%Top 38%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment15,111Bottom 9%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)5.9%Top 3%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-2.3%Bottom 14%June 2026
Labor force16,143Bottom 9%June 2026
Labor force participation62.0%Top 45%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$56,110Bottom 8%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$46,810Bottom 19%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)1.7%Top 1%June 2026
Unemployment rate6.4%Top 6%June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202470k63k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $69,619 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 — Elizabethtown, KY
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators2,140$50,510
Retail Salespersons1,570$28,650
General and Operations Managers1,420$76,770
Cashiers1,340$28,270
Fast Food and Counter Workers1,330$27,260
Human Resources Specialists1,060$78,850

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.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish labor-force data for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Elizabethtown, KY, the city containing this ZIP code.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $934 takes 16% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 3.7 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
16.1%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.7×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$934
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$260,300
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income3.74Top 34%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate61.6%Bottom 18%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±50623,507Top 2%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$42$934Bottom 41%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$13,452$260,300Top 40%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income16.1%Bottom 39%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate6.0%Bottom 28%2024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
55/ 100
Top 41% of 3,947 published city profiles

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.

New construction is predominantly single-family: only 0% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.

At 5.0 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US ZIP areas.

Units permitted
164
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
5.0
Top 30% nationally
Year over year
−74%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

The Building Permits Survey is not published for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Elizabethtown, KY, the city containing this ZIP code.

Weather & climate

7 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 24°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 54.4 inches, including 4.5 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 ELIZABETHTOWN WP CS, 2.6 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND5.8"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation54.4"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall4.5"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low24°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high86°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months71991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing43°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today.

Physical risk

69 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are tornado, earthquake and hail.

Ice stormModerate
HailElevated
EarthquakeElevated
TornadoModerate

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

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. ZIP values are the land-area-weighted mean of the counties the ZIP Code Tabulation Area intersects. Expected annual loss is not allocated below county level. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Taxes

AreaProfile does not yet publish tax comparisons. No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, methodology transparency and update cadence, and the product rule is to omit a dimension rather than estimate it. The Area Score is calculated without a tax component and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Nothing on AreaProfile is individualized tax advice.

Access

3 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 33 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Louisville Muhammad Ali IntlSDF33 mi11,887 ft
Owensboro/Daviess County RgnlOWB73 mi8,000 ft
Evansville RgnlEVV95 mi8,021 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
64
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)

Profile recalculated August 29, 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 browse every source.

42701 vs Elizabethtown

How this ZIP area compares with Elizabethtown as a whole. Both figures come from the same ACS release, so the comparison is like for like.

42701
Elizabethtown
Median household income
$69,619
vs
$60,760
Per capita income
$41,340
vs
$35,019
Population density
333/sq mi
vs
1,163/sq mi
Median home value
$260,300
vs
$245,900
Median gross rent
$934
vs
$909
Homeownership rate
61.6%
vs
49.3%
Bachelor's degree or higher
28.0%
vs
28.3%
Poverty rate
13.5%
vs
17.0%
Median age
38.1
vs
35.7

Some demographic statistics use Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, which approximate but do not exactly match USPS ZIP delivery geography. See the methodology for how AreaProfile maps between them.