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Place dossier plate
SheetKY-STEARNS-KY · Stearns, KY 1,509 pop · income 6th 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 Stearns
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Stearns on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Vanceburg · lowest
26,369
Vanceburg · lowest
26,369 median HH income
25.5% of the leader · rank #1
Stearns · this city
36,964
Stearns · this city
36,964 median HH income
35.7% of the leader · rank #2
Lockhart · near
36,964
Lockhart · near
36,964 median HH income
35.7% of the leader · rank #3
Jay · near
36,964
Jay · near
36,964 median HH income
35.7% of the leader · rank #4
Calvin · near
36,964
Calvin · near
36,964 median HH income
35.7% of the leader · rank #5
Rand · near
36,964
Rand · near
36,964 median HH income
35.7% of the leader · rank #6
South Coventry · highest
103,466
South Coventry · highest
103,466 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
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Stearns on ACS population and median household income
. 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: 1,509.
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Stearns lands in the 6th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
6th
percentile, household income
10th
percentile, median rent
📝 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: Stearns, KY
Kentucky's Stearns is a small town, with 1,509 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Median household income here is $36,964 per year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 45.4%. The median resident age is 36.9 years. 29.0% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 45.9% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
NOAA climate normals record an annual average temperature of 54.9°F with 56.1 inches of precipitation per year.
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). 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. On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 44.2 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Stearns'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 climate and hazard context to comparison shortlist to within-city variation 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 Stearns, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, within-city Census tract profiles, matched public-school count.
No matched row is reported here for FBI reported-crime rates, annual population history, local building permits; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Climate and hazard context
What physical conditions frame life in Stearns?
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 54.9°F, with 56.1 inches of precipitation. 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Stearns?
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.
Within Kentucky, the closest population matches are Augusta (1,514 residents, $43,854 income); Olive Hill (1,488 residents, $69,063 income); South Shore (1,561 residents, $29,000 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are South Coventry, CT (1,509 residents); Epworth, GA (1,509 residents); Fairbank, IA (1,509 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.
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 does the journey to work look like in Stearns?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 83.2%. 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.
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 Stearns?
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. 29.0% 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
45.4%
Bachelor's degree+
29.0%
Matched public schools
2
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
Lowest-decile income · poverty 45.4% (Highest-decile poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
90.2 (US=100)
Affordable · BEA RPP 2024, Kentucky average
F
City profile score · Stearns, KY
33/100
4 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.
Bachelor's+ share C
29.0%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income F
$36,964
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate F
45.4%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Stearns profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 85/100 (A) · 90.2 index
Bachelor's+ share: 56/100 (C) · 29.0%
Household income: 3/100 (F) · $36,964
Poverty rate: 0/100 (F) · 45.4%
How does Stearns compare to other US cities?
Stearns measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income6% higher than other cities
Median rent10% pricier than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Stearns 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 Stearns near the bottom of Kentucky's cities
Among the 520 Kentucky cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Stearns ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Stearns only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#403 of 485
17th percentile in Kentucky
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 520
0th percentile in Kentucky
Poverty Rate
#17 of 519
97th percentile in Kentucky
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#157 of 520
70th 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
6th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Income distribution context
$36,964Stearns, KY median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Stearns, 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 Stearns, KY.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)29.0%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)45.4%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)45.9%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
1,509
Median Income
$36,964
Median Home Value
N/A
Median Age
36.9
Poverty Rate
45.4%
Labor force participation
45.9%
Bachelor's Degree+
29.0%
Climate
Avg Temperature
54.9°F
Annual Precipitation
56.1"
Annual Snowfall
N/A
Schools
Total Schools
2
Public schools in this city
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
83.2%
Carpool
6.3%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
10.5%
Based on 525 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 Stearns. 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 Stearns 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 Stearns sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Stearns 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, NOAA Climate Normals, 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.