Home to 4.53 million people, Kentucky is the 26th-largest of the 51 US states (with the District of Columbia). Households, home values, education, business density, and which trades are already crowded, all from Census data.
Statewide numbers first; the 6 metro pages linked below carry the same breakdown for each market. The biggest of them, Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN, holds 1.37 million residents.
The typical household income is $63,726, 21 percent below the national figure. The median home is worth $205,600, 38 percent below the national figure, which shapes what homeowners will spend on repairs and upgrades. Both figures matter for pricing and for which offers land.
Owners occupy 68.3% of homes, 3 points above the US share. Among adults 25 and over, 27.6% have at least a bachelor's degree, 8 points below the US share. Of 2,152,038 people in the labor force, 4.9% are unemployed, about the same as the US share. The median resident is 39.1 years old, about the same as the national median.
One more comparison, this time with Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN: median income 14 percent lower than the Louisville metro figure, median home value 17 percent lower than the Louisville metro figure, business density 10 percent thinner than the Louisville metro figure.
The establishment count for Kentucky is 94,402. Density runs 20.8 businesses for every 1,000 residents, 17 percent below the national figure. Home-services trades account for 4,419 of them (4.7% of all establishments, about the same as the US share).
| Trade (NAICS) | Count | Per 100,000 | Index vs US |
|---|---|---|---|
| Highway, street and bridge construction | 112 | 2.5 | 1.07× |
| Self-storage facilities | 188 | 4.1 | 0.90× |
| Roofing contractors | 255 | 5.6 | 0.89× |
| Concrete foundation and structure contractors | 294 | 6.5 | 1.12× |
| Other specialty trade contractors (paving, asphalt, fencing) | 463 | 10.2 | 0.96× |
| Beauty salons | 680 | 15 | 0.72× |
| Automobile dealers | 716 | 15.8 | 1.35× |
| Electrical contractors | 898 | 19.8 | 0.95× |
| General automotive repair | 906 | 20 | 0.95× |
| Child day care services | 925 | 20.4 | 1.00× |
| Grocery and convenience retailers | 1,050 | 23.2 | 0.93× |
| General freight trucking | 1,120 | 24.7 | 0.85× |
| Landscaping services | 1,130 | 24.9 | 0.85× |
| Personal care services (all) | 1,170 | 25.8 | 0.64× |
| Plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors | 1,379 | 30.4 | 1.10× |
| Lessors of real estate (all) | 1,384 | 30.5 | 0.90× |
| Dentists | 1,440 | 31.8 | 0.94× |
| Legal services | 1,934 | 42.6 | 0.95× |
| Physicians' offices | 2,833 | 62.5 | 1.15× |
| Restaurants and other eating places | 6,987 | 154.1 | 1.00× |
Index: local share of all establishments divided by the US share; above 1 means the trade is more common here than nationally.
Relative to the national mix, automobile dealers and physicians' offices take up an outsized slice of the Kentucky business base. The sharpest example is automobile dealers: 716 establishments, 1.4 times the share seen nationally. Thinner than the national mix are personal care services, beauty salons, landscaping services and general freight trucking. Personal care services: 1,170 establishments, about 64% of the national share. In line with the country: plumbing and HVAC contractors, roofing contractors and electrical contractors.
On a per-capita basis restaurants come first at 154.1 per 100,000, ahead of physicians' offices and legal services. In absolute numbers restaurants lead with 6,987, followed by physicians' offices at 2,833 and legal services at 1,934. Grouped, automotive businesses hold about the same as the share they hold nationally, while trucking, storage, real estate and road construction sit at about the same as.
With automobile dealers and physicians' offices over-indexed, the cost of a click rises and so does the value of everything that happens after it: a page that loads fast, a number that is answered, a review profile that settles the comparison. For personal care services, beauty salons and landscaping services the picture is the opposite. Fewer competing profiles means a complete listing, a fast site and a modest search budget can take a disproportionate share of the searches that exist. Incomes 21 percent below the national figure mean value and clarity carry the message; offers should be plain and the path to a call short. With a median age about the same as the national median, the classic path of search, reviews and a phone call still carries most of the business. With 68.3% of homes owner-occupied, the people searching for a plumber or a roofer here are usually the ones paying the bill, which shortens the sales cycle.
Matched to the data: the services most likely to earn their cost in Kentucky.
Calls answered when the crew is on a job or the office is closed.
A steady flow of new reviews and a reply on every one of them.
Campaigns on Google fenced to the service area and judged on booked work.
Profile upkeep, posts, Q&A and photos on the listing customers see first.
Ranking for the service-and-town searches without paying per click.
A fast site with the services, the area served and a clear way to call or book.
A quick review of where you show up today, then a plan for where you should.
Data: US Census Bureau ACS 2024 5-year estimates and County Business Patterns 2023.