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Place dossier plate
SheetKY-HARTFORD-KY · Hartford, KY 2,653 pop · income 37th pct
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 Hartford
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Hartford on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Pikeville · lowest
32,917
Pikeville · lowest
32,917 median HH income
25.7% of the leader · rank #1
Dayton · near
61,307
Dayton · near
61,307 median HH income
47.9% of the leader · rank #2
Hartford · this city
61,313
Hartford · this city
61,313 median HH income
47.9% of the leader · rank #3
Lugoff · near
61,316
Lugoff · near
61,316 median HH income
47.9% of the leader · rank #4
Shasta Lake · near
61,319
Shasta Lake · near
61,319 median HH income
47.9% of the leader · rank #5
Mentor-on-the… · near
61,320
Mentor-on-the… · near
61,320 median HH income
47.9% of the leader · rank #6
Holly Hills · highest
127,989
Holly Hills · highest
127,989 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 Hartford 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: 2,653.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Hartford - the verdict
Hartford ranks in the 37th percentile for household income and the 63rd percentile for safety nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
37th
percentile, household income
11th
percentile, home value
10th
percentile, median rent
63rd
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: Hartford, KY
2,653 people live in Hartford, Kentucky - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Hartford households earn a median of $61,313 annually, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 11.0%. Typical homes in Hartford are valued around $103,800, and the median resident age is 36.9 years. Educational attainment runs 18.8% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 57.9% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Hartford reports a comparatively low crime rate: the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program logs 1022.3 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: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts Kentucky at 90.2 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Well Below Average). A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $984 per month statewide. Monthly utility costs average around $225 across Kentucky, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. The average commute for Hartford workers runs 19.0 minutes, with 79.3% driving alone and 5.4% working from home. 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 Hartford'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 comparison shortlist to housing and income to reported crime to population change to work and mobility to schools and households; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Hartford, city-specific coverage includes matched public-school count, FBI reported-crime rates, commute-mode shares, annual population history.
No matched row is reported here for local building permits, within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Comparison shortlist
Which cities make useful reference points for Hartford?
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.
Within Kentucky, the closest population matches are Cadiz (2,649 residents, $40,186 income); Louisa (2,645 residents, $41,250 income); Masonville (2,634 residents, $89,102 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Rock Rapids, IA (2,653 residents); West Wyoming, PA (2,653 residents); Pikeville, TN (2,653 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.
How far does income reach against housing in Hartford?
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.
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 1.7 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 11.0%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Hartford?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 1022.3 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 55% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
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.
Is Hartford growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population was unchanged by +0 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +0.0% change. No comparable local building-permit series is available here, so population change should not be read as a housing-supply measure. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
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.
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 Hartford?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 79.3%. The reported mean trip to work is 19.0 minutes.
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.
Drive alone
79.3%
Work from home
5.4%
Public transit
0.0%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 1,091 workers age 16+.
The city has a broader matched school footprint, but count alone does not describe performance, capacity, program availability, or attendance boundaries. This profile deliberately avoids converting it into an unsupported family-friendliness score.
The NCES join finds 5 public schools within the city match. 18.8% 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.
Poverty estimate
11.0%
Bachelor's degree+
18.8%
Matched public schools
5
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
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 · Hartford, KY
48/100
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 D
189 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Household income F
$61,313
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate F
11.0%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share F
18.8%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Hartford profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 85/100 (A) · 90.2 index
Violent crime: 49/100 (D) · 189 /100k
Household income: 37/100 (F) · $61,313
Poverty rate: 36/100 (F) · 11.0%
Bachelor's+ share: 31/100 (F) · 18.8%
Where Hartford sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Hartford'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 - Hartford highlighted among 25 peers.Read the chart values
Hartford, KY (this city): home $103,800, crime 1,022/100k
Pikeville, TN : home $155,500, crime 1,580/100k
Cadiz, KY : home $120,800, crime 1,010/100k
Louisa, KY : home $144,900, crime 1,054/100k
Tompkinsville, KY : home $86,100, crime 175/100k
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 Hartford compare to other US cities?
Where Hartford sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income37% higher than other cities
Home value11% pricier than other cities
Median rent10% pricier than other cities
Safety63% 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, Hartford ranks #114 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 Hartford 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 Hartford near the bottom of Kentucky's cities
Among the 520 Kentucky cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Hartford ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Hartford only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#200 of 485
59th percentile in Kentucky
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 520
0th percentile in Kentucky
Median Home Value
#368 of 484
24th percentile in Kentucky
Poverty Rate
#259 of 519
49th percentile in Kentucky
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#244 of 520
53rd 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
37th percentile nationally for median household income · 63rd percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Hartford's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Hartford'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 Hartford's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$103,800Among 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
Hartford's home-value-to-income ratio: 1.7×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#733 of 15,516
More affordable than 95% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#716 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 1.7×, Hartford sits in the affordable band:
national rank #733 of 15,516 and #716 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
$61,313Hartford, KY median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Hartford, 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 Hartford, KY.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)18.8%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)11.0%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)57.9%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
2,653
Median Income
$61,313
Median Home Value
$103,800
Median Age
36.9
Poverty Rate
11.0%
Labor force participation
57.9%
Bachelor's Degree+
18.8%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
1022.3
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
189.3
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
833.0
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
5
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Hartford's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
2,665 residents
2021
2,650 residents
2022
2,634 residents
2023
2,646 residents
2024
2,657 residents
2025
2,665 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
19.0 minutes
Drive Alone
79.3%
Carpool
11.2%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
4.1%
Work from Home
5.4%
Based on 1,091 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 Hartford. 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 Hartford 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 Hartford sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Hartford 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 ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.