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Place dossier plate
SheetKY-CENTRAL-CITY-KY · Central City, KY 5,736 pop · income 18th pct · 10 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 Central City
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Central City on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Yabucoa zona… · lowest
17,511
Yabucoa zona… · lowest
17,511 median HH income
15.8% of the leader · rank #1
Pirtleville · near
49,022
Pirtleville · near
49,022 median HH income
44.1% of the leader · rank #2
Lewistown · near
49,022
Lewistown · near
49,022 median HH income
44.1% of the leader · rank #3
Central City · this city
49,025
Central City · this city
49,025 median HH income
44.1% of the leader · rank #4
La Harpe · near
49,028
La Harpe · near
49,028 median HH income
44.1% of the leader · rank #5
Decatur · near
49,028
Decatur · near
49,028 median HH income
44.1% of the leader · rank #6
Bright · highest
111,140
Bright · highest
111,140 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 Central City 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: 5,736.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Central City - the verdict
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Central City places in the 18th percentile for household income and the 61st percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
18th
percentile, household income
24th
percentile, home value
10th
percentile, median rent
61st
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: Central City, KY
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 5,736 residents in Central City, a small town within Kentucky. Median household income here is $49,025 per year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 20.0%. Typical homes in Central City are valued around $140,700, and the median resident age is 36.0 years. Educational attainment runs 9.6% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 49.8% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 5 residential units authorized here in 2024 (Stable), up 0% from five years earlier. Central City reports a comparatively low crime rate: per-100,000 total crime stands at 1067.5 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: the state registers 90.2 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Well Below Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $984 per month. Monthly utility costs average around $225 across Kentucky, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. 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 Central City'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 population change to work and mobility to reported crime to within-city variation to housing and income to comparison shortlist to schools and households; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Central City, city-specific coverage includes FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits, commute-mode shares, annual population history, within-city Census tract profiles, matched public-school count.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
1. Population change
Is Central City 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 declined by -25 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -0.4% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 5 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
What does the journey to work look like in Central City?
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. The profile is strongly car-oriented, so a relocation comparison should put trip distance, vehicle access, and household fuel costs ahead of a citywide commute average. The same-state peer links offer a more relevant benchmark than a national label.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 93.0%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
What can 10 Census tracts reveal inside Central City?
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.
PlainCities matches 10 Census tracts to this city.
Which cities make useful reference points for Central City?
Within Kentucky, the closest population matches are Monticello (5,741 residents, $37,733 income); Dayton (5,703 residents, $62,500 income); Bellevue (5,598 residents, $67,143 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Bright, IN (5,735 residents); Salisbury, MA (5,735 residents); Webster, NY (5,734 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.
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.
Reported crime
What can the FBI record say about safety in Central City?
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 1067.5 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 53% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Property rate
981.4
Violent rate
86.1
Total reported rate
1067.5
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
How far does income reach against housing in Central City?
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 2.9 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 20.0%, 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. Income and home value move within the same broad scale here. The useful next check is not a generic affordability label, but whether similar-size cities offer a materially different income, housing, or commute trade-off.
Household income
$49,025
Home value
$140,700
Value / income
2.9×
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
What does the education layer cover for Central City?
The NCES join finds 1 public school within the city match. 9.6% 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
1
Bachelor's degree+
9.6%
Poverty estimate
20.0%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
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.
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.
Violent crime B
86 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Household income F
$49,025
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate F
20.0%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share F
9.6%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Central City profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 85/100 (A) · 90.2 index
Violent crime: 74/100 (B) · 86 /100k
Household income: 19/100 (F) · $49,025
Poverty rate: 13/100 (F) · 20.0%
Bachelor's+ share: 5/100 (F) · 9.6%
Where Central City sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Central City'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 - Central City highlighted among 8 peers.Read the chart values
Central City, KY (this city): home $140,700, crime 1,068/100k
Salisbury, MA : home $441,500, crime 741/100k
Tontitown, AR : home $394,200, crime 655/100k
Monticello, KY : home $125,800, crime 876/100k
Dayton, KY : home $144,100, crime 977/100k
Bellevue, KY : home $186,200, crime 1,103/100k
Fort Wright, KY : home $305,500, crime 571/100k
Wilmore, KY : home $210,700, crime 473/100k
How does Central City compare to other US cities?
Here's how Central City stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income18% higher than other cities
Home value24% pricier than other cities
Median rent10% pricier than other cities
Safety61% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
A national percentile can hide a lot of local variation: narrowed to Kentucky alone, Central City ranks #119 of 181 Kentucky cities by lowest crime rate - a different, more locally useful comparison than stacking it against the entire country.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Central City 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 Central City near the bottom of Kentucky's cities
Among the 520 Kentucky cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Central City ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Central City only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#297 of 485
39th percentile in Kentucky
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 520
0th percentile in Kentucky
Median Home Value
#254 of 484
48th percentile in Kentucky
Poverty Rate
#145 of 519
72nd percentile in Kentucky
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#395 of 520
24th 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
18th percentile nationally for median household income · 61st percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Central City's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Central City'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 Central City's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$140,700Among the most affordablemore affordable than 76% 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
Central City's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.9×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#5,957 of 15,516
More affordable than 62% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#5,130 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.9×, Central City sits in the affordable band:
national rank #5,957 of 15,516 and #5,130 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
$49,025Central City, KY median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Central City, 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 Central City, KY.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)9.6%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)20.0%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)49.8%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
5,736
Median Income
$49,025
Median Home Value
$140,700
Median Age
36.0
Poverty Rate
20.0%
Labor force participation
49.8%
Bachelor's Degree+
9.6%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
1067.5
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
86.1
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
981.4
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
1
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Central City's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
5,818 residents
2021
5,356 residents
2022
5,815 residents
2023
5,793 residents
2024
5,742 residents
2025
5,793 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
🏗️ Stable
Total Permits (2024)
5
housing units authorized
Single-Family
5
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
0.9
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
5
5
0
$1.1M
2020
5
5
0
$1.1M
2021
6
6
0
$1.3M
2022
7
7
0
$1.5M
2023
5
5
0
$1.1M
2024
5
5
0
$1.1M
Permit volume increased 0% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
93.0%
Carpool
2.9%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
1.6%
Work from Home
0.0%
Other
2.5%
Based on 2,137 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 Central City. 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 Central City 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 Central City sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Central City 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.