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Place dossier plate
SheetKY-PROSPECT-KY · Prospect, KY 4,518 pop · income 96th 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 Prospect
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Prospect on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Scottsville · lowest
36,259
Scottsville · lowest
36,259 median HH income
21.0% of the leader · rank #1
Woodbourne · near
172,292
Woodbourne · near
172,292 median HH income
99.9% of the leader · rank #2
East Norwich · near
172,321
East Norwich · near
172,321 median HH income
99.9% of the leader · rank #3
Shorewood · near
172,325
Shorewood · near
172,325 median HH income
99.9% of the leader · rank #4
Prospect · this city
172,361
Prospect · this city
172,361 median HH income
99.9% of the leader · rank #5
Olmos Park · near
172,434
Olmos Park · near
172,434 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #6
Lynnfield · highest
172,484
Lynnfield · highest
172,484 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 Prospect 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: 4,518.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Prospect - the verdict
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Prospect places in the 96th percentile for household income and the 77th percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
96th
percentile, household income
85th
percentile, home value
10th
percentile, median rent
77th
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: Prospect, KY
Kentucky's Prospect is a small town, with 4,518 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Median household income here is $172,361 per year, placing it in the top quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 2.3%. Prospect's housing stock carries a median value of $494,000, and the median resident age is 55.2 years. About 71.4% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 53.5% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Prospect reports a comparatively low crime rate: per-100,000 total crime stands at 702.8 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. 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 Prospect'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 population change to reported crime to schools and households to housing and income to comparison shortlist; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Prospect, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, FBI reported-crime rates, commute-mode shares, matched public-school count.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles, local building permits; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
What does the journey to work look like in Prospect?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 68.4%. 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. Remote work has a visible role in the local pattern. That can reduce commute exposure for some workers, but it says nothing about job availability or broadband quality; read it alongside income and housing rather than as a stand-alone lifestyle score.
Is Prospect growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +111 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +2.4% 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.
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.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Prospect?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 702.8 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 69% 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Prospect?
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 Westwood (4,480 residents, $70,012 income); Greenville (4,435 residents, $70,401 income); Crescent Springs (4,402 residents, $76,530 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Dardanelle, AR (4,517 residents); Heritage, CT (4,517 residents); Buffalo, WY (4,516 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.
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 Prospect?
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.
The NCES join finds 2 public schools within the city match. 71.4% 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
2.3%
Bachelor's degree+
71.4%
Matched public schools
2
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
How far does income reach against housing in Prospect?
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 2.9 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 2.3%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Value / income
2.9×
Home value
$494,000
Household income
$172,361
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
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.
Household income A+
$172,361
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share A+
71.4%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
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 A-
2.3%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Prospect profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Household income: 100/100 (A+) · $172,361
Bachelor's+ share: 98/100 (A+) · 71.4%
Violent crime: 97/100 (A+) · 0 /100k
Cost of living: 85/100 (A) · 90.2 index
Poverty rate: 84/100 (A-) · 2.3%
Where Prospect sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Prospect'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 - Prospect highlighted among 27 peers.Read the chart values
Prospect, KY (this city): home $494,000, crime 703/100k
Dardanelle, AR : home $123,200, crime 1,155/100k
Buffalo, WY : home $272,300, crime 853/100k
Seat Pleasant, MD : home $296,600, crime 4,565/100k
Greenville, KY : home $118,500, crime 415/100k
Scottsville, KY : home $140,600, crime 823/100k
Ludlow, KY : home $154,700, crime 1,183/100k
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 Prospect compare to other US cities?
Where Prospect sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income96% higher than other cities
Home value85% pricier than other cities
Median rent10% pricier than other cities
Safety77% 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, Prospect ranks #81 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 Prospect 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 Prospect near the bottom of Kentucky's cities
Among the 520 Kentucky cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Prospect ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Prospect only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#11 of 485
98th percentile in Kentucky
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 520
0th percentile in Kentucky
Median Home Value
#15 of 484
97th percentile in Kentucky
Poverty Rate
#413 of 519
20th percentile in Kentucky
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#23 of 520
96th 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
96th percentile nationally for median household income · 77th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Prospect's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Prospect'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 Prospect's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$494,00015th percentilemore affordable than 15% 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
Prospect's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.9×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#5,945 of 15,516
More affordable than 62% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#5,121 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.9×, Prospect sits in the affordable band:
national rank #5,945 of 15,516 and #5,121 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
$172,361Prospect, KY median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Prospect, 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 Prospect, KY.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)71.4%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)2.3%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)53.5%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
4,518
Median Income
$172,361
Median Home Value
$494,000
Median Age
55.2
Poverty Rate
2.3%
Labor force participation
53.5%
Bachelor's Degree+
71.4%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
702.8
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
0.0
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
702.8
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
Prospect's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
4,594 residents
2021
4,577 residents
2022
4,586 residents
2023
4,626 residents
2024
4,687 residents
2025
4,705 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
68.4%
Carpool
11.7%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
19.3%
Other
0.6%
Based on 2,013 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 Prospect. 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 Prospect 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 Prospect sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Prospect 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.