Erlanger, Kentucky

Area Profile

19,875 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Erlanger, in Kenton County.

67out of 100
Area Score
Top 28% of 2,944 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
OpportunityTop 43% of 3,904 published cities60
Schools2407th of 2,668 published cities19
GrowthTop 24% of 2,973 published cities65
Housing affordabilityTop 8% of 4,223 published cities100
Climate2323rd of 4,223 published cities69
Physical resilienceTop 25% of 4,182 published cities80
AccessTop 19% of 4,226 published cities98
Economic stabilityTop 46% of 4,226 published cities62
The quick read

Unemployment is 4.7% and median household income $75,840, putting employment conditions in the middle range of published city profiles.

Housing is more affordable relative to local incomes than in most published city profiles: rent takes 15% of median household income and the median home is 2.8 times it.

A major airport is 4 miles away, giving the area unusually direct access to the national air network.

At a glance

Population
19,875
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$75,840
Top 38% nationally
Density
2,369/sq mi
8.4 sq mi of land
Median age
38.0
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Kenton County
Kentucky
Metro area
Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN
Nearest major airport
CVG
4 mi · Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Intl
Median home value
$209,000
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.7% is lower than 36% of the 3,904 measured US cities.

Employment fell 0.2% over the past year, to 89,342 employed residents.

32% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 72% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$8,552$75,840Top 38%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$4,013$41,170Top 30%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate13.7%Top 40%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute23.3 minBottom 32%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher32.1%Top 28%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment89,342Top 40%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)2.4%Top 18%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-0.2%Top 33%June 2026
Labor force93,761Top 40%June 2026
Labor force participation69.1%Top 21%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$67,370Bottom 46%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$50,170Bottom 44%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)0.4%Top 32%June 2026
Unemployment rate4.7%Top 36%June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202478k69k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $75,840 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

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 publishes city-level labor data only for places of 25,000 or more. This is the figure for Kenton County, KY, which contains this city.

23% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 32% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 15.3 students for every full-time teacher, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
8
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
15.3
across all schools here
Math proficiency
23.3%
Bottom 16% in Kentucky
Reading proficiency
32.4%
Bottom 3% in Kentucky
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Lloyd High SchoolErlanger-Elsmere Independent71119.8
Tichenor Middle SchoolErlanger-Elsmere Independent50514.022%47%
Howell Elementary SchoolErlanger-Elsmere Independent29914.923%26%
Lindeman Elementary SchoolErlanger-Elsmere Independent28714.333%30%
Miles Elementary SchoolErlanger-Elsmere Independent27815.428%26%
Arnett Elementary SchoolErlanger-Elsmere Independent25310.510%21%
Early Learning CenterErlanger-Elsmere Independent4040.0
Ignite InstituteBoone County0

89.6% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with rather than how the schools perform, which is why AreaProfile shows it and does not score it.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data. Schools are placed by ZIP code, so this is which schools are in this place rather than which one a particular address is zoned for — district boundaries do not follow municipal ones, and enrollment zones change. Fully virtual schools are excluded: they enroll students from across the state while reporting one administrative address, and counting them here would describe a school population this place does not have. The assessment covers grades 3 through 8, so a high school shows no proficiency figure — a dash in those columns means the test was not given at that school, not that it performed badly. Proficiency is measured against Kentucky’s own standard, so it compares cleanly within the state and only broadly against other states; AreaProfile therefore ranks it within state. The directory is current, while the proficiency figures are from the last school year with national coverage before the pandemic interrupted testing.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $970 takes 15% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 2.8 times median household income here, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
15.3%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.8×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$970
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$209,000
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income2.76Bottom 45%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate69.3%Bottom 36%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±4068,180Top 7%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$40$970Top 50%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$15,076$209,000Top 45%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income15.3%Bottom 27%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate4.7%Bottom 27%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
65/ 100
Top 24% of 2,973 published city profiles
Permitting is decreasing, measured from 2020 to 2025.

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 20,172 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before.

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

At 2.0 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
40
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.0
Bottom 46% nationally
Year over year
+18%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
2020202120222023202420k20k
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.
Housing units permitted per year
202020222023202420255123
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−55%).

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, 3.8 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND4.8"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation45.3"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall23.3"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low23°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high86°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months61991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing45°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

80 / 100
Physical resilience

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

TornadoElevated
EarthquakeModerate

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

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.

These are deaths, not offences. AreaProfile does not publish reported crime, and this is not a substitute for it — it says nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Kenton County records 2.8 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 14.0 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 25.7 per 100,000 residents in Kenton County.

Homicide
2.8
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Firearm deaths, all intents
14.0
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Drug overdose
25.7
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Suicide
17.5
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides. The two columns overlap and should not be added.

Age-adjusted rates from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC for Kenton County as a whole — these rates are not published below county level. A county can hold both a dense city centre and a suburb whose experience of it is nothing alike, so this describes the county around Erlanger rather than Erlanger itself. That is why AreaProfile shows these figures and does not put them in the Area Score. Where fewer than ten deaths were recorded the count is suppressed at source, and a rate built on single figures moves sharply between releases. What this measure has that reported crime does not: a death certificate is filed whether or not the local police agency submitted a return that year, so the figures stay comparable between places and over time.

What this profile does not cover

Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Reported crime
The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer is the only source for reported offences with national coverage and a published method, and it requires an API key AreaProfile does not hold. Arrest counts, news volume and commercial “safety scores” are not substituted in the meantime. What is published above under Safety is a different measurement — deaths rather than offences, from death certificates rather than police returns — and it covers no property crime at all.
Taxes
No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, transparent methodology and update cadence. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Full cost of living
No public source publishes one with national coverage and a documented method. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings.

Access

4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 4 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky IntlCVG4 mi10,000 ft
Wilmington Air ParkILN51 mi10,701 ft
James M Cox Dayton IntlDAY63 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
67
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Other cities in Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
CincinnatiHamilton County311,22465vs Erlanger
HamiltonButler County63,46864vs Erlanger
MiddletownButler County51,61766vs Erlanger
FairfieldButler County44,82865vs Erlanger
CovingtonKenton County41,11066vs Erlanger
MasonWarren County35,50982vs Erlanger
FlorenceBoone County32,803vs Erlanger
IndependenceKenton County29,39277vs Erlanger
OxfordButler County21,75359vs Erlanger
LebanonWarren County21,50177vs Erlanger
Forest ParkHamilton County20,02570vs Erlanger
SpringboroWarren County19,98083vs Erlanger

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.

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)
safetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
April, 2025 to March, 2026Quarterly, with a rolling twelve-month window alongside complete calendar years
schoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2019-20 school year; 2024-25 school yearDirectory annually; assessment results as EDFacts releases them

Profile recalculated August 30, 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.

ZIP codes in Erlanger

1 published ZIP profiles
ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeArea Score
4101828,940$68,60567