Louisville/Jefferson County, Kentucky
Area Profile
631,818 residents. Jobs, income, climate, physical risk, development and airport access for Louisville/Jefferson County, in Jefferson County.
Missing required signals: opportunity, growth. AreaProfile withholds a score rather than inferring the missing dimensions.
Housing is more affordable relative to local incomes than in most published city profiles, with rent taking 20% of median household income.
A major airport is 5 miles away, giving the area unusually direct access to the national air network.
At a glance
Jobs & opportunity
34% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 75% of measured US cities.
| Metric | Value | Compared with peers | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income ±$1,523 | $66,849 | Top 50% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Per capita income ±$631 | $39,683 | Top 33% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Poverty rate | 15.8% | Top 33% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Average commute | 24.0 min | Bottom 35% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Bachelor's degree or higher | 33.8% | Top 25% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Labor force participation | 65.6% | Top 32% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Mean annual wage | $62,310 | Bottom 28% | 2025 OEWS |
| Median annual wage | $48,370 | Bottom 29% | 2025 OEWS |
| Occupation | People employed | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand | 29,400 | $46,830 |
| Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators | 20,920 | $48,440 |
| Registered Nurses | 18,180 | $84,850 |
| Retail Salespersons | 17,540 | $30,660 |
| General and Operations Managers | 16,830 | $89,140 |
| Stockers and Order Fillers | 16,410 | $37,610 |
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.
Housing & affordability
How it’s calculated →Median rent of $1,120 takes 20% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.
A median home costs 3.5 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.
| Metric | Value | Compared with peers | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home price to income | 3.50 | Top 36% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Homeownership rate | 60.7% | Bottom 21% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Housing units ±971 | 289,095 | Top 1% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median gross rent ±$14 | $1,120 | Top 38% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median home value ±$2,746 | $233,900 | Top 39% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Rent as a share of income | 20.1% | Top 40% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Vacancy rate | 8.5% | Bottom 44% | 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 →Population has grown 1% since 2020, reaching 640,796 in 2024.
No building-permit activity is published for this location by the Census Building Permits Survey.
Weather & climate
7 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 88°F and January a low of 27°F.
Normal annual precipitation is 48.1 inches.
| Metric | Value | Source period |
|---|---|---|
| Annual precipitation | 48.1" | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average January low | 27°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average July high | 88°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Comfortable months | 7 | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Seasonal temperature swing | 44°F | 1991-2020 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
The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding and earthquake.
Low or minimal exposure: tornado, heat wave, cold wave, strong wind, lightning, winter weather, hail, ice storm, wildfire, landslide, hurricane, drought.
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.
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 5 miles away.
| Airport | Code | Distance | Longest runway |
|---|---|---|---|
| Louisville Muhammad Ali Intl | SDF | 5 mi | 11,887 ft |
| Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Intl | CVG | 81 mi | 10,000 ft |
| Owensboro/Daviess County Rgnl | OWB | 88 mi | 8,000 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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Similar places
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Data & methodology
| Used for | Source | Source period | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access | Federal Aviation Administration Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service | NASR current cycle | 28-day NASR cycle |
| Physical risk | Federal Emergency Management Agency National Risk Index | National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0) | Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current) |
| Climate | NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly) | 1991-2020 Normals | Every ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period) |
| Jobs | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics | 2025 OEWS | Annual (spring release) |
| Demographics, Housing, Income, Jobs | U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File) | 2024 ACS 5-Year | Annual (5-year estimates released each December) |
| Demographics | U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program | July 1, 2024 estimate | Annual (vintage released each spring) |
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.