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Place dossier plate
SheetKY-SOMERSET-KY · Somerset, KY 12,108 pop · income 3rd pct · 21 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 Somerset
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Somerset on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Somerset · this city · lowest
32,910
Somerset · this city · lowest
32,910 median HH income
14.0% of the leader · rank #1
Norfork · near
32,917
Norfork · near
32,917 median HH income
14.0% of the leader · rank #2
Pine Prairie · near
32,917
Pine Prairie · near
32,917 median HH income
14.0% of the leader · rank #3
Stamford · near
32,917
Stamford · near
32,917 median HH income
14.0% of the leader · rank #4
Bokoshe · near
32,917
Bokoshe · near
32,917 median HH income
14.0% of the leader · rank #5
Wyndham · highest
235,886
Wyndham · highest
235,886 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #6
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 Somerset 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: 12,108.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Somerset - the verdict
Somerset ranks in the 3rd percentile for household income and the 51st percentile for safety nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
3rd
percentile, household income
24th
percentile, home value
10th
percentile, median rent
51st
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: Somerset, KY
12,108 people live in Somerset, Kentucky - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Households in Somerset report a median income of $32,910 per year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 26.5%. Typical homes in Somerset are valued around $140,900, and the median resident age is 39.1 years. About 16.9% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 46.8% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 112 residential units authorized here in 2024 (Stable), down 3% from five years earlier. Somerset reports a comparatively low crime rate: per-100,000 total crime stands at 1334.2 in FBI UCR data, below the national average (a voluntary reporting program, read this as reporting activity, not a definitive danger score). NOAA puts Somerset's yearly average temperature at 58.3°F with 53.3 inches of precipitation per year and 5.4 inches of snowfall.
Living costs in Kentucky run below the national norm: on BEA's 100-equals-national-average cost index, Kentucky scores 90.2 (Well Below Average), per the 2024 Regional Price Parities release. 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. The average commute for Somerset workers runs 22.9 minutes, with 77.6% driving alone and 5.0% 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 Somerset'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 within-city variation to reported crime to housing and income to schools and households to climate and hazard context to comparison shortlist to work and mobility to population change; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Somerset, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, matched public-school count, annual population history, FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits, within-city Census tract profiles.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
Question 1
What can 21 Census tracts reveal inside Somerset?
PlainCities matches 21 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.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Somerset?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 1334.2 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 41% 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.
How far does income reach against housing in Somerset?
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. Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median. That flags a question for comparison, not a verdict: tenure, household composition, financing costs, and the age of the ACS estimate can all change what a resident actually pays.
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 4.3 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 26.5%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Which cities make useful reference points for Somerset?
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 Lawrenceburg (11,838 residents, $63,690 income); Campbellsville (11,523 residents, $49,389 income); Fort Campbell North (11,483 residents, $58,403 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Richmond, TX (12,117 residents); Dent, OH (12,097 residents); Yeadon, PA (12,091 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 Somerset?
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 14 public schools within the city match. 16.9% 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
26.5%
Bachelor's degree+
16.9%
Matched public schools
14
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
The two sources should not be blended into one comfort or safety score. Use the climate values for baseline conditions and the risk index as a prompt to inspect specific hazards, insurance, and local emergency guidance for a particular address.
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 58.3°F, with 53.3 inches of precipitation and 5.4 inches of annual snowfall. FEMA's state-averaged National Risk Index score for Kentucky is 44.2 out of 100. Climate normals describe long-run weather; the FEMA score on PlainCities is a state average of county NRI inputs and combines hazards, exposure, vulnerability, and resilience.
FEMA risk index (state avg)
44.2
Annual precipitation
53.3 in
Mean temperature
58.3°F
NOAA Climate Normals and FEMA National Risk Index (state-averaged on PlainCities). Hazard context is not address-level.
What does the journey to work look like in Somerset?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 77.6%. The reported mean trip to work is 22.9 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
77.6%
Work from home
5.0%
Public transit
0.0%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 4,491 workers age 16+.
Is Somerset growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +681 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +5.7% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 112 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
12,014
2025 estimate
12,695
Period change
+5.7%
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
Lowest-decile income · poverty 26.5% (Highest-decile poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
90.2 (US=100)
Affordable · BEA RPP 2024, Kentucky average
F
City profile score · Somerset, KY
29/100
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 F
259 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share F
16.9%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate F
26.5%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$32,910
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Somerset profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 85/100 (A) · 90.2 index
Violent crime: 39/100 (F) · 259 /100k
Bachelor's+ share: 25/100 (F) · 16.9%
Poverty rate: 4/100 (F) · 26.5%
Household income: 0/100 (F) · $32,910
Where Somerset sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Somerset'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 - Somerset highlighted among 9 peers.Read the chart values
Somerset, KY (this city): home $140,900, crime 1,334/100k
Richmond, TX : home $229,800, crime 2,990/100k
Yeadon, PA : home $172,500, crime 2,102/100k
St. Peter, MN : home $238,700, crime 631/100k
Lawrenceburg, KY : home $185,400, crime 596/100k
Campbellsville, KY : home $162,900, crime 1,305/100k
Lyndon, KY : home $273,300, crime 2,629/100k
Bardstown, KY : home $190,800, crime 1,559/100k
Alexandria, KY : home $253,400, crime 779/100k
How does Somerset compare to other US cities?
Here's how Somerset stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income3% higher than other cities
Home value24% pricier than other cities
Median rent10% pricier than other cities
Safety51% 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: Somerset ranks #131 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 Somerset 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 Somerset near the bottom of Kentucky's cities
Among the 520 Kentucky cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Somerset ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Somerset only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#430 of 485
11th percentile in Kentucky
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 520
0th percentile in Kentucky
Median Home Value
#253 of 484
48th percentile in Kentucky
Poverty Rate
#87 of 519
83rd percentile in Kentucky
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#278 of 520
46th 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
3rd percentile nationally for median household income · 51st percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Somerset's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Somerset'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 Somerset's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$140,900Among 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
Somerset's home-value-to-income ratio: 4.3×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#11,475 of 15,516
More affordable than 26% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#2,212 of 3,317
Small cities (10,000–49,999)
At 4.3×, Somerset sits in the moderate band:
national rank #11,475 of 15,516 and #2,212 of 3,317small cities (10,000–49,999).
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
$32,910Somerset, KY median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Somerset, 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 Somerset, KY.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)16.9%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)26.5%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)46.8%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
12,108
Median Income
$32,910
Median Home Value
$140,900
Median Age
39.1
Poverty Rate
26.5%
Labor force participation
46.8%
Bachelor's Degree+
16.9%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
1334.2
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
258.8
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
1075.4
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.
Climate
Avg Temperature
58.3°F
Annual Precipitation
53.3"
Annual Snowfall
5.4"
Schools
Total Schools
14
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Somerset's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
12,014 residents
2021
12,205 residents
2022
12,242 residents
2023
12,337 residents
2024
12,467 residents
2025
12,695 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
🏗️ Stable
Total Permits (2024)
112
housing units authorized
Single-Family
43
detached homes
Multifamily
69
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
9.3
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
116
100
16
$9.0M
2020
113
109
4
$9.0M
2021
0
0
0
-
2022
16
16
0
$4.1M
2023
11
4
7
$1.9M
2024
112
43
69
$20.5M
Permit volume decreased 3% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
22.9 minutes
Drive Alone
77.6%
Carpool
14.3%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
2.2%
Work from Home
5.0%
Other
0.9%
Based on 4,491 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 Somerset. 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 Somerset 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 Somerset sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Somerset 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, NOAA Climate Normals, 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.