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Place dossier plate
SheetKY-OWENSBORO-KY · Owensboro, KY 60,112 pop · income 25th pct · 24 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 Owensboro
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Owensboro on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Richmond · lowest
48,223
Richmond · lowest
48,223 median HH income
37.3% of the leader · rank #1
Camden · near
53,289
Camden · near
53,289 median HH income
41.2% of the leader · rank #2
Owensboro · this city
53,295
Owensboro · this city
53,295 median HH income
41.2% of the leader · rank #3
Redbird Smith · near
53,295
Redbird Smith · near
53,295 median HH income
41.2% of the leader · rank #4
Richland · near
53,295
Richland · near
53,295 median HH income
41.2% of the leader · rank #5
Republic · near
53,295
Republic · near
53,295 median HH income
41.2% of the leader · rank #6
Parker · highest
129,342
Parker · highest
129,342 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 Owensboro 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: 60,112.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Owensboro - the verdict
Owensboro ranks in the 25th percentile for household income and the 13th percentile for safety nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
25th
percentile, household income
31st
percentile, home value
10th
percentile, median rent
13th
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: Owensboro, KY
60,112 people live in Owensboro, Kentucky - a small city by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Households in Owensboro report a median income of $53,295 per year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 16.4%. Home values in Owensboro run a median of $162,900, and the median resident age is 37.7 years. 25.4% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 56.7% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Housing supply pressure shows in Census Building Permit Survey data: 226 residential units were authorized in 2024 (Construction Slowdown), down 29% from five years earlier. Owensboro's reported crime rate runs above the national norm: per-100,000 total crime stands at 3266.4 in FBI UCR data, above 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 Owensboro'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 housing and income to population change to reported crime to comparison shortlist to schools and households to within-city variation; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Owensboro, city-specific coverage includes local building permits, commute-mode shares, within-city Census tract profiles, annual population history, FBI reported-crime rates, matched public-school count.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
Question 1
What does the journey to work look like in Owensboro?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 81.0%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
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.
How far does income reach against housing in Owensboro?
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.
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.1 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 16.4%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Which cities make useful reference points for Owensboro?
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 Bowling Green (73,638 residents, $48,419 income); Covington (40,902 residents, $58,814 income); Georgetown (38,206 residents, $78,373 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Parker, CO (60,115 residents); Revere, MA (59,933 residents); Stonecrest, GA (59,917 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.
What can 24 Census tracts reveal inside Owensboro?
PlainCities matches 24 Census tracts to this 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.
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.
Population change
Is Owensboro growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +620 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +1.0% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 226 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
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.
2020 estimate
60,272
2025 estimate
60,892
Period change
+1.0%
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Owensboro?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 3266.4 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, above the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 43% higher 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.
Total reported rate
3266.4
Violent rate
349.4
Property rate
2917.0
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
What does the education layer cover for Owensboro?
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 31 public schools within the city match. 25.4% 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
16.4%
Bachelor's degree+
25.4%
Matched public schools
31
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.
Bachelor's+ share C-
25.4%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Violent crime F
349 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Household income F
$53,295
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate F
16.4%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Owensboro profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 85/100 (A) · 90.2 index
Bachelor's+ share: 50/100 (C-) · 25.4%
Violent crime: 26/100 (F) · 349 /100k
Household income: 25/100 (F) · $53,295
Poverty rate: 20/100 (F) · 16.4%
Where Owensboro sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Owensboro'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 - Owensboro highlighted among 12 peers.Read the chart values
Owensboro, KY (this city): home $162,900, crime 3,266/100k
Parker, CO : home $613,200, crime 1,857/100k
Revere, MA : home $566,200, crime 1,980/100k
Chapel Hill, NC : home $576,500, crime 2,687/100k
Euless, TX : home $294,500, crime 2,293/100k
White Plains, NY : home $624,100, crime 1,872/100k
Bowling Green, KY : home $232,100, crime 3,153/100k
Covington, KY : home $167,900, crime 1,923/100k
Georgetown, KY : home $244,200, crime 1,291/100k
Richmond, KY : home $205,900, crime 2,188/100k
Florence, KY : home $196,200, crime 3,445/100k
Elizabethtown, KY : home $223,200, crime 835/100k
How does Owensboro compare to other US cities?
Here's how Owensboro stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income25% higher than other cities
Home value31% pricier than other cities
Median rent10% pricier than other cities
Safety13% 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, Owensboro ranks #174 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 Owensboro 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 Owensboro near the bottom of Kentucky's cities
Among the 520 Kentucky cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Owensboro ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Owensboro only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#257 of 485
47th percentile in Kentucky
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 520
0th percentile in Kentucky
Median Home Value
#200 of 484
58th percentile in Kentucky
Poverty Rate
#188 of 519
63rd percentile in Kentucky
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#182 of 520
65th 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
25th percentile nationally for median household income · 13th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Owensboro's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Owensboro'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 Owensboro's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$162,900Among the most affordablemore affordable than 69% 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
Owensboro's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.1×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#6,982 of 15,516
More affordable than 55% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#124 of 750
Mid-size cities (50,000–199,999)
At 3.1×, Owensboro sits in the moderate band:
national rank #6,982 of 15,516 and #124 of 750mid-size cities (50,000–199,999).
Income and home value move in the same broad scale; check same-state peers before treating the multiple as an advantage or a warning.
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
$53,295Owensboro, KY median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Owensboro, 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 Owensboro, KY.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)25.4%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)16.4%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)56.7%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
60,112
Median Income
$53,295
Median Home Value
$162,900
Median Age
37.7
Poverty Rate
16.4%
Labor force participation
56.7%
Bachelor's Degree+
25.4%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
3266.4
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
349.4
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
2917.0
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
31
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Owensboro's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
60,272 residents
2021
60,035 residents
2022
60,122 residents
2023
60,313 residents
2024
60,577 residents
2025
60,892 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📉 Construction Slowdown
Total Permits (2024)
226
housing units authorized
Single-Family
198
detached homes
Multifamily
28
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
3.8
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
320
277
43
$29.2M
2020
338
302
36
$31.7M
2021
388
388
0
$36.1M
2022
238
212
26
$25.0M
2023
282
185
97
$31.3M
2024
226
198
28
$18.7M
Permit volume decreased 29% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
81.0%
Carpool
9.2%
Public Transit
0.4%
Walk
2.3%
Work from Home
5.9%
Other
1.2%
Based on 26,607 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 Owensboro. 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 Owensboro 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 Owensboro sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Owensboro 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.