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Place dossier plate
SheetKY-HARDINSBURG-KY · Hardinsburg, KY 2,404 pop · income 30th pct · 6 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 Hardinsburg
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Hardinsburg on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Fulton · lowest
36,037
Fulton · lowest
36,037 median HH income
16.7% of the leader · rank #1
Womelsdorf (C… · near
56,771
Womelsdorf (C… · near
56,771 median HH income
26.4% of the leader · rank #2
Hardinsburg · this city
56,774
Hardinsburg · this city
56,774 median HH income
26.4% of the leader · rank #3
Marseilles · near
56,777
Marseilles · near
56,777 median HH income
26.4% of the leader · rank #4
Breckenridge · near
56,779
Breckenridge · near
56,779 median HH income
26.4% of the leader · rank #5
Passaic · near
56,780
Passaic · near
56,780 median HH income
26.4% 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 Hardinsburg 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: 2,404.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Hardinsburg - the verdict
Nationally, Hardinsburg sits in the 30th percentile for household income and the 79th percentile for safety among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
30th
percentile, household income
20th
percentile, home value
10th
percentile, median rent
79th
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: Hardinsburg, KY
2,404 people live in Hardinsburg, Kentucky - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Median household income here is $56,774 per year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 11.0%. Home values in Hardinsburg run a median of $128,400, and the median resident age is 43.2 years. 17.1% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 48.6% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 5 residential units authorized here in 2024 (Building Boom), up 67% from five years earlier. Hardinsburg reports a comparatively low crime rate: the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program logs 648.0 total incidents per 100,000 residents here, below the national average (agency reporting is voluntary, so this measures 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. Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $984 monthly. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts Kentucky's average monthly utility costs around $225 (state average). Natural-hazard exposure scores 44.2 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Hardinsburg'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 schools and households to reported crime to work and mobility to housing and income to population change to within-city variation to comparison shortlist; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Hardinsburg, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, FBI reported-crime rates, annual population history, within-city Census tract profiles, local building permits, matched public-school count.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
Question 1
What does the education layer cover for Hardinsburg?
The NCES join finds 1 public school within the city match. 17.1% 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.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Hardinsburg?
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 648.0 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 72% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
What can 6 Census tracts reveal inside Hardinsburg?
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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Hardinsburg?
Within Kentucky, the closest population matches are Anchorage (2,421 residents, $215,156 income); Junction City (2,441 residents, $40,917 income); Carlisle (2,356 residents, $46,292 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Prince Frederick, MD (2,404 residents); Cordova, AK (2,405 residents); Holiday Island, AR (2,405 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.
Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in Hardinsburg?
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 92.8%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Public transit
0.0%
Work from home
0.9%
Drive alone
92.8%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 934 workers age 16+.
How far does income reach against housing in Hardinsburg?
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 2.3 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 11.0%, 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. 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
$56,774
Home value
$128,400
Value / income
2.3×
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Is Hardinsburg growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Recent estimates point upward. Growth can increase housing demand and service needs, but the permit record must move in the same direction before calling it a supply response; the two series measure different things.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +123 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +5.1% 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.
Period change
+5.1%
2025 estimate
2,513
2020 estimate
2,390
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
Below median income · poverty 11.0% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
90.2 (US=100)
Affordable · BEA RPP 2024, Kentucky average
D
City profile score · Hardinsburg, KY
49/100
5 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2023
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-
122 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Poverty rate F
11.0%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$56,774
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
17.1%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Hardinsburg profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 85/100 (A) · 90.2 index
Violent crime: 65/100 (B-) · 122 /100k
Poverty rate: 36/100 (F) · 11.0%
Household income: 30/100 (F) · $56,774
Bachelor's+ share: 26/100 (F) · 17.1%
Where Hardinsburg sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Hardinsburg'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 - Hardinsburg highlighted among 26 peers.Read the chart values
Hardinsburg, KY (this city): home $128,400, crime 648/100k
Cordova, AK : home $384,500, crime 230/100k
Anchorage, KY : home $827,000, crime 649/100k
Carlisle, KY : home $103,300, crime 236/100k
Horse Cave, KY : home $93,600, crime 176/100k
Fulton, KY : home $61,200, crime 3,001/100k
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 Hardinsburg compare to other US cities?
Where Hardinsburg sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income30% higher than other cities
Home value20% pricier than other cities
Median rent10% pricier than other cities
Safety79% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
Zoom in to just Kentucky and the picture shifts: Hardinsburg ranks #75 of 181 Kentucky cities by lowest crime rate, a different read than the national percentile above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Hardinsburg 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 Hardinsburg near the bottom of Kentucky's cities
Among the 520 Kentucky cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Hardinsburg ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Hardinsburg only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#234 of 485
52nd percentile in Kentucky
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 520
0th percentile in Kentucky
Median Home Value
#282 of 484
42nd percentile in Kentucky
Poverty Rate
#259 of 519
49th percentile in Kentucky
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#275 of 520
47th 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
30th percentile nationally for median household income · 79th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Hardinsburg's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Hardinsburg'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 Hardinsburg's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$128,400Among the most affordablemore affordable than 80% 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
Hardinsburg's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.3×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#2,768 of 15,516
More affordable than 82% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#2,569 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.3×, Hardinsburg sits in the affordable band:
national rank #2,768 of 15,516 and #2,569 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
$56,774Hardinsburg, KY median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Hardinsburg, 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 Hardinsburg, KY.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)17.1%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)11.0%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)48.6%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
2,404
Median Income
$56,774
Median Home Value
$128,400
Median Age
43.2
Poverty Rate
11.0%
Labor force participation
48.6%
Bachelor's Degree+
17.1%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
648.0
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
121.5
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
526.5
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
Hardinsburg's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
2,390 residents
2021
2,404 residents
2022
2,436 residents
2023
2,453 residents
2024
2,478 residents
2025
2,513 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Building Boom
Total Permits (2024)
5
housing units authorized
Single-Family
0
detached homes
Multifamily
5
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
2.1
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
3
3
0
$0.4M
2020
1
1
0
$0.1M
2021
3
3
0
$0.4M
2022
0
0
0
-
2023
9
9
0
$2.6M
2024
5
0
5
$0.5M
Permit volume increased 67% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
92.8%
Carpool
3.5%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
0.9%
Other
2.8%
Based on 934 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 Hardinsburg. 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 Hardinsburg 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 Hardinsburg sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Hardinsburg 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.