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Place dossier plate
SheetKY-CARLISLE-KY · Carlisle, KY 2,356 pop · income 14th pct · 2 tracts
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around Carlisle
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Carlisle on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Harlan · lowest
30,365
Harlan · lowest
30,365 median HH income
14.1% of the leader · rank #1
Breñas comuni… · near
46,285
Breñas comuni… · near
46,285 median HH income
21.5% of the leader · rank #2
Starke · near
46,291
Starke · near
46,291 median HH income
21.5% of the leader · rank #3
Riceboro · near
46,291
Riceboro · near
46,291 median HH income
21.5% of the leader · rank #4
Carlisle · this city
46,292
Carlisle · this city
46,292 median HH income
21.5% of the leader · rank #5
Pearl River · near
46,295
Pearl River · near
46,295 median HH income
21.5% of the leader · rank #6
Anchorage · highest
215,156
Anchorage · highest
215,156 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income, and FBI crime rate
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Carlisle on ACS population and median household income
, plus FBI UCR reporting rate when the extract covers this place. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 2,356.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Carlisle - the verdict
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Carlisle lands in the 14th percentile for household income and the 95th percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
14th
percentile, household income
11th
percentile, home value
10th
percentile, median rent
95th
percentile, safety
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: Carlisle, KY
2,356 people live in Carlisle, Kentucky - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Carlisle households earn a median of $46,292 annually, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 9.1%. Carlisle's housing stock carries a median value of $103,300, and the median resident age is 47.1 years. About 8.5% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 52.4% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 0 residential building permits were authorized in Carlisle (No Permits), down 100% from five years earlier, per Census BPS data. Carlisle reports a comparatively low crime rate: per-100,000 total crime stands at 236.1 in FBI UCR data, below the national average (a voluntary reporting program, read this as reporting activity, not a definitive danger score).
Living costs in Kentucky run below the national norm: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts Kentucky at 90.2 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Well Below Average). Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $984 monthly. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Kentucky run around $225, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 44.2 out of 100 (Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Carlisle's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from work and mobility to comparison shortlist to reported crime to schools and households to housing and income to population change to within-city variation; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Carlisle, city-specific coverage includes local building permits, FBI reported-crime rates, matched public-school count, annual population history, commute-mode shares, within-city Census tract profiles.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
1. Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in Carlisle?
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. No single mode completely explains the work trip here. The mix is more useful than a one-number commute grade, especially when comparing places where transit, walking, and remote work divide the non-driving share differently.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 80.9%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Which cities make useful reference points for Carlisle?
Within Kentucky, the closest population matches are Horse Cave (2,348 residents, $51,927 income); Fulton (2,345 residents, $36,037 income); Elk Creek (2,344 residents, $127,487 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Dennison, OH (2,356 residents); Roaring Spring, PA (2,356 residents); Coal Creek, CO (2,357 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Carlisle?
Treat this as a reporting-rate comparison, not a prediction of personal risk or a neighborhood-level safety grade. Tourism, daytime population, reporting practices, and variation inside the city are not adjusted away. The state rank and same-state peer table are the narrower comparisons available on this page.
The joined FBI UCR record reports 236.1 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 90% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
That layer breaks the citywide income, rent, and home-value medians into smaller Census geographies, which can reveal differences that one municipal median necessarily hides. A tract is a statistical area, not a locally defined neighborhood or a promise about conditions on a particular block. Start with the city profile for the broad comparison, then use the tract layer to test whether the same housing and income pattern is consistent across the city. Large within-city spreads are a reason to avoid treating any citywide median as a universal resident experience.
These joined records add useful context, but they do not need another full-size panel. Each remains a separate measure with its own geography and source boundary.
Schools and households
What does the education layer cover for Carlisle?
The NCES join finds 2 public schools within the city match. 8.5% of adults age 25+ hold a bachelor's degree or higher in the ACS estimate. These measures answer different questions: the school count describes local institutions, while adult attainment describes residents and cannot be used as a school-quality rating.
The matched institution count is small, so district boundaries and schools outside the city line may matter more than the municipal count suggests. Use the number as a coverage cue, then verify attendance zones with the district before making a household decision.
Matched public schools
2
Bachelor's degree+
8.5%
Poverty estimate
9.1%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
How far does income reach against housing in Carlisle?
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 2.2 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 9.1%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. The ratio makes housing the clearest place to start this profile, but a low multiple can coexist with slow demand, older stock, or household-level hardship. Compare the home-value distribution and same-state peer table before treating it as an advantage.
Household income
$46,292
Home value
$103,300
Value / income
2.2×
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Is Carlisle growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
The recent population line is broadly flat. That makes the composition of change more important than the headline count: housing turnover, household size, and age structure can shift even when the total barely moves.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +19 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +0.9% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 0 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Period change
+0.9%
2025 estimate
2,122
2020 estimate
2,103
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Violent crime A+
0 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Cost of living A
90.2 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Poverty rate D
9.1%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$46,292
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
8.5%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Carlisle profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Violent crime: 97/100 (A+) · 0 /100k
Cost of living: 85/100 (A) · 90.2 index
Poverty rate: 43/100 (D) · 9.1%
Household income: 15/100 (F) · $46,292
Bachelor's+ share: 2/100 (F) · 8.5%
Where Carlisle sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Carlisle's median home value and FBI crime rate plotted with similar-size and
same-state peers (padded with large cities when the peer set is thin). The second
read: pricey does not always mean safer, check which quadrant this city lands in.
Census ACS median home value vs FBI UCR crime rate - Carlisle highlighted among 27 peers.Read the chart values
Carlisle, KY (this city): home $103,300, crime 236/100k
Roaring Spring, PA : home $136,900, crime 218/100k
Horse Cave, KY : home $93,600, crime 176/100k
Fulton, KY : home $61,200, crime 3,001/100k
Hardinsburg, KY : home $128,400, crime 648/100k
Harlan, KY : home $112,500, crime 937/100k
Anchorage, KY : home $827,000, crime 649/100k
New York, NY : home $751,700, crime 3,039/100k
Los Angeles, CA : home $879,500, crime 2,212/100k
Chicago, IL : home $315,200, crime 4,012/100k
Houston, TX : home $253,400, crime 5,442/100k
Phoenix, AZ : home $381,900, crime 3,125/100k
Philadelphia, PA : home $232,400, crime 5,457/100k
San Antonio, TX : home $219,700, crime 5,218/100k
San Diego, CA : home $848,500, crime 2,082/100k
Dallas, TX : home $295,300, crime 4,010/100k
San Jose, CA : home $1,187,800, crime 3,195/100k
Austin, TX : home $512,700, crime 3,709/100k
Fort Worth, TX : home $277,300, crime 3,158/100k
Columbus, OH : home $234,500, crime 3,088/100k
Indianapolis, IN : home $207,000, crime 4,214/100k
San Francisco, CA : home $1,380,500, crime 4,526/100k
Seattle, WA : home $912,100, crime 5,783/100k
Denver, CO : home $586,700, crime 5,755/100k
Oklahoma City, OK : home $215,100, crime 3,570/100k
El Paso, TX : home $171,700, crime 1,772/100k
Washington, DC : home $724,600, crime 4,514/100k
How does Carlisle compare to other US cities?
Where Carlisle sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income14% higher than other cities
Home value11% pricier than other cities
Median rent10% pricier than other cities
Safety95% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
National percentiles can mask local variation. Looking only at Kentucky, Carlisle ranks #31 of 181 Kentucky cities by lowest crime rate - a narrower, more locally useful cut than the national comparison above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Carlisle against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Kentucky only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Kentucky-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Carlisle near the bottom of Kentucky's cities
Among the 520 Kentucky cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Carlisle ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Carlisle only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#325 of 485
33rd percentile in Kentucky
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 520
0th percentile in Kentucky
Median Home Value
#371 of 484
23rd percentile in Kentucky
Poverty Rate
#298 of 519
42nd percentile in Kentucky
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#413 of 520
21st percentile in Kentucky
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within Kentucky only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
14th percentile nationally for median household income · 95th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Carlisle's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Carlisle's percentile rank on 3 favorable-direction measures (income, affordability, safety) vs. every tracked US city -- higher on every axis is more favorable. Not a composite quality score, just the arithmetic mean of the axes shown.
How Carlisle's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$103,300Among the most affordablemore affordable than 89% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023
Carlisle's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.2×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#2,615 of 15,516
More affordable than 83% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#2,439 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.2×, Carlisle sits in the affordable band:
national rank #2,615 of 15,516 and #2,439 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
The multiple is comparatively compact among tracked cities, but a low ratio can still coexist with slow demand or household-level hardship.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$46,292Carlisle, KY median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Carlisle, KY median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Carlisle, KY.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)8.5%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)9.1%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)52.4%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
2,356
Median Income
$46,292
Median Home Value
$103,300
Median Age
47.1
Poverty Rate
9.1%
Labor force participation
52.4%
Bachelor's Degree+
8.5%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
236.1
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
0.0
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
236.1
per 100,000 residents
Crime reporting caveat
Reflects incidents reported to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program — agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies by jurisdiction and year, so this reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score. Not adjusted for tourism, commuter, or daytime population.
Schools
Total Schools
2
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Carlisle's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
2,103 residents
2021
2,146 residents
2022
2,150 residents
2023
2,127 residents
2024
2,073 residents
2025
2,122 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
Total Permits (2024)
0
housing units authorized
Single-Family
0
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
3
3
0
$0.6M
2020
0
0
0
-
2021
0
0
0
-
2022
1
1
0
$0.3M
2023
2
2
0
$0.5M
2024
0
0
0
-
Permit volume decreased 100% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
80.9%
Carpool
10.5%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
4.3%
Work from Home
3.5%
Other
0.8%
Based on 1,054 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Kentucky statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $225
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Kentucky at $225 (electricity about $115 , water and sewer about $40 ).
These are Kentucky statewide averages, not a meter reading for Carlisle. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Kentucky's BEA cost-of-living index is 90.2 (Well Below Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Carlisle is $984/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Kentucky statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 44.2 / 100 (Low).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Kentucky statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Carlisle sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Carlisle compares to similar-size Kentucky cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, FBI UCR, NCES CCD, Census BPS 2024, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.