County profile

Bracken County

Kentucky · ACS 2020–2024

Download data

Latest estimates

At a glance

U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates.

Total population
8,444
Median household income
$66,319
People below poverty
19.5%
Median home value
$125,000

Income

The median income of households in Bracken County, Kentucky was $66,319. An estimated 6.6% of households had income below $10,000 a year and 7% had income of $200,000 or more.

Household Income in Bracken County, Kentucky in 2020-2024

View Data Table ↓

Percent
Less than $10,000 6.6
$10,000 to $14,999 3.1
$15,000 to $24,999 7.3
$25,000 to $34,999 10.2
$35,000 to $49,999 12.8
$50,000 to $74,999 14.9
$75,000 to $99,999 12.2
$100,000 to $149,999 16.2
$150,000 to $199,999 9.8
$200,000 or more 7

Median Earnings for Full-Time Year-Round Workers by Sex in Bracken County, Kentucky in 2020-2024

View Data Table ↓

Dollars
Male 59135
Female 43516

An estimated 74.3% of households received earnings. An estimated 43.2% of households received Social Security and an estimated 30.7 % of households received retirement income other than Social Security. The average income from Social Security was $20,783. These income sources are not mutually exclusive; that is, some households received income from more than one source.

Proportion of Households with Various Income Sources in Bracken County, Kentucky in 2020-2024

View Data Table ↓

Percent
Earnings 74.3
Social Security 43.2
Retirement income 30.7
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) 6.4
Cash public assistance income 3

Poverty and Participation in Government Programs

In 2020-2024, 19.5 % of people were in poverty. An estimated 33% of children under 18 were below the poverty level, compared with 9% of people 65 years old and over. An estimated 17.6% of people 18 to 64 years were below the poverty level.

Poverty Rates in Bracken County, Kentucky in 2020-2024

View Data Table ↓

Percent
People in poverty 19.5
Children under 18 years below poverty 33
People 65 years old and over below poverty 9
People 18 to 64 years below poverty 17.6

In 2020-2024, 17.4 % of households received SNAP (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program). An estimated 65.2% of households that received SNAP had children under 18, and 33.9% of households that received SNAP had one or more people 60 years and over. An estimated 34.4% of all households receiving SNAP were families with a female householder and no spouse present.


Among the civilian noninstitutionalized population in Bracken County, Kentucky in 2020-2024, 95.3% had health insurance coverage and 4.7% did not have health insurance coverage. Private coverage was 57.3% and public coverage was 50.4%, respectively. The percentage of children under the age of 19 with no health insurance coverage was 2.2%.


In 2020-2024, Bracken County, Kentucky had a total population of 8,444 - 4,178 (49.5%) females and 4,266 (50.5%) males. The median age was 42 years. An estimated 23.1% of the population was under 18 years, 28.1% was 19 to 44 years, 27.9% was 45 to 64 years, and 18.2 % was 65 years and older.

Population by Age and Sex for Bracken County, Kentucky in 2020-2024

Male Female
Under 5 229 246
5 to 9 297 244
10 to 14 262 258
15 to 19 325 318
20 to 24 212 169
25 to 29 228 230
30 to 34 229 275
35 to 39 279 275
40 to 44 268 212
45 to 49 241 242
50 to 54 315 280
55 to 59 351 277
60 to 64 285 364
65 to 69 365 281
70 to 74 141 195
75 to 79 99 134
80 to 84 91 110
85 and over 49 68

Hispanic Origin and Race

For people reporting one race alone, 95.7% were White; 0.6% were Black or African American; 15.9% were American Indian and Alaska Native; 0.1% were Asian; 0.6% were Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, and 0% were Some Other Race. An estimated 2.4% reported Two or More Races. An estimated 1.5% of the people in Bracken County, Kentucky were Hispanic or Latino. An estimated 94.5% of the people in Bracken County, Kentucky were White alone, non-Hispanic. People of Hispanic origin may be of any race.


Households and Families

In 2020-2024, there were 3,364 households in Bracken County, Kentucky. The average household size was 2.5 people.

Married-couple households made up 57.1% of the households in Bracken County, Kentucky while cohabiting couple households made up 9.4% of households. Female householders with no spouse or partner present were 20.5% of all households, while 13% of households had male householders with no spouse or partner present. Some households had one person, as 9% of households were male householders living alone, and 8.8% were female householders living alone, for a total of 17.8% of all households.

In Bracken County, Kentucky, 35.5% of all households had one or more people under the age of 18; 33.9% of all households had one or more people 65 years and over.

Types of Households in Bracken County, Kentucky in 2020-2024

View Data Table ↓

Percent
Married-couple households 57.1
Cohabiting Couples 9.4
Male Householder
No spouse/partner present
13
Female Householder
No spouse/partner present
20.5

Marital Status

Among persons 15 and older, 60.3% of males and 56.3% of females were currently married.

Population 15 years and over Percent
Males
Percent
Females
Never married 25.7 17.9
Now married, except separated 60.3 56.3
Separated 2 2.1
Widowed 2.6 9.2
Divorced 9.4 14.5

Grandparents and Grandchildren

In Bracken County, Kentucky, 289 grandparents lived with their grandchildren under 18 years old. Of those grandparents, 20.1% were responsible for the basic needs of their grandchildren.


Nativity and Foreign-Born

In 2020-2024, an estimated 99.4% of the people living in Bracken County, Kentucky were U.S. natives. 79.4% of the Bracken County, Kentucky population were living in the state where they were born.

Approximately 0.6% of Bracken County, Kentucky residents in 2020-2024 were foreign-born. 33.3% of foreign-born were naturalized U.S. citizens and an estimated 43.1 % entered the country before the year 2010.

Foreign-born residents of Bracken County, Kentucky come from different parts of the world. The bar graph below displays the percentage of foreign-born from each world region of birth in 2020-2024 for Bracken County, Kentucky.

Region of Birth for the Foreign-Born Population in Bracken County, Kentucky in 2020-2024

View Data Table ↓

Percent
Latin America 39.2
Asia 5.9
Europe 3.9
Africa 29.4
Northern America 0
Oceania 21.6

Language

Among people at least five years old living in Bracken County, Kentucky in 2020-2024, 0.9 % spoke a language other than English at home. Spanish was spoken by 0.4% of people at least five years old; 0% reported that they did not speak English "very well."

Percentage of the Population 5 years and over who Speak a Language other than English in Bracken County, Kentucky in 2020-2024

View Data Table ↓

Percent
Spanish 0.4
Other Indo-European languages 0.3
Asian and Pacific Islander languages 0
Other languages 0.2

Geographic Mobility

In 2020-2024, 95.7 % of the people at least one year old living in Bracken County, Kentucky were living in the same house one year earlier.

Geographic Mobility of Residents of Bracken County, Kentucky in 2020-2024

View Data Table ↓

Percent
Same house 95.7
Different house, same county 1.2
Different county, same state 2.2
Different state 0.8
Abroad 0.1

Education

In 2020-2024, 89.2 % of people 25 years and over had at least graduated from high school and 17.8% had a bachelor's degree or higher. An estimated 10.9% did not complete high school.

The total school enrollment in Bracken County, Kentucky was 1,723 in 2020-2024. Nursery school enrollment was 36 and kindergarten through 12th grade enrollment was 1,508. College or graduate school enrollment was 179.

Educational Attainment of People in Bracken County, Kentucky in 2020-2024

View Data Table ↓

Percent
Less than high school diploma 10.9
High school diploma or equivalency 41.2
Some college, no degree 18.4
Associate's degree 11.7
Bachelor's degree 8.7
Graduate or professional degree 9.1

Disability

In Bracken County, Kentucky, among the civilian noninstitutionalized population in 2020-2024, 19.9 % reported a disability. The likelihood of having a disability varied by age - from 8.6% of people under 18 years old, to 18.8% of people 18 to 64 years old, and to 37.9% of those 65 and over.


Employment Status and Type of Employer

In Bracken County, Kentucky, 55.6 % of the population 16 and over were employed; 41.7% were not currently in the labor force.

An estimated 83.1% of the people employed were private wage and salary workers; 10.5% were federal, state, or local government workers; and 6.1 % were self-employed in their own (not incorporated) business.

Class of worker Number Percent
Private wage and salary workers 3,141 83.1
Federal, state, or local government workers 395 10.5
Self-employed workers in own not incorporated business 231 6.1

Industries

In 2020-2024, the civilian employed population 16 years and older in Bracken County, Kentucky worked in the following industries:

Percent by Industry in Bracken County, Kentucky in 2020-2024

View Data Table ↓

Percent
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting, and mining 4.3
Construction 11.2
Manufacturing 17.9
Wholesale trade 1.3
Retail trade 12.5
Transportation and warehousing, and utilities 4.6
Information 2
Finance and insurance, and real estate and rental and leasing 5.8
Professional, scientific, and management, and administrative and waste management services 5.4
Educational services, and health care and social assistance 21.8
Arts, entertainment, and recreation, and accommodation, and food services 4.3
Other Services, except public administration 4.7
Public administration 4.2

Occupations

Occupations for the Civilian Employed Population 16 Years and over in Bracken County, Kentucky in 2020-2024

Civilian employed population 16 years and over Number Percent
Management, business, sciences, and arts occupations 1,065 28.2
Service occupations 531 14.1
Sales and office occupations 568 15
Natural resources, construction, and maintenance occupations 467 12.4
Production, transportation, and material moving occupations 1,147 30.4

Commuting to Work

An estimated 80.5% of Bracken County, Kentucky workers drove to work alone in 2020-2024, and 14% carpooled. Among those who commuted to work, it took them on average 34.5 minutes to get to work.

Percent of Workers 16 and over Commuting by Mode in Bracken County, Kentucky in 2020-2024

View Data Table ↓

Percent
Car, truck, van -- drove alone 80.5
Car, truck, van -- carpooled 14
Public transportation (excluding taxicab) 0.2
Walked 1.9
Other means 0
Worked from home 3.4

In 2020-2024, Bracken County, Kentucky had a total of 3,860 housing units. Of these housing units, 63.3% were single-family houses either not attached to any other structure or attached to one or more structures (commonly referred to as "townhouses" or "row houses"). 7.3% of the housing units were located in multi-unit structures, or those buildings that contained two or more apartments. 29.4% were mobile homes, while any remaining housing units were classified as "other," which included boats, recreational vehicles, vans, etc.

Types of Housing Units in Bracken County, Kentucky in 2020-2024

View Data Table ↓

Percent
Single-family houses 63.3
Apartments in multi-unit structures 7.3
Mobile homes 29.4
Boat, RV, van, etc 0

8.8% of the housing inventory was comprised of houses built since 2010, while 18% of the houses were first built in 1939 or earlier. The median number of rooms in all housing units in Bracken County, Kentucky was 6.2 rooms, and of these housing units 68% had three or more bedrooms.


In 2020-2024, Bracken County, Kentucky had 3,364 housing units that were occupied or had people living in them, while the remaining 496 were vacant. Of the occupied housing units, the percentage of these houses occupied by owners (also known as the homeownership rate) was 78.5% while renters occupied 21.5%. The average household size of owner-occupied houses was 2.43 and in renter-occupied houses it was 2.75.

2% of householders of these occupied houses had moved into their house since 2021, while 11.2% moved into their house in 1989 or earlier. Households without a vehicle available for personal use comprised 2.9% and another 38.4% had three or more vehicles available for use.

The following chart provides the primary fuel used to heat houses in Bracken County, Kentucky:

House Heating Fuel Used in Bracken County, Kentucky in 2020-2024

View Data Table ↓

Percent
Gas 33.4
Electricity 59.1
Fuel oil, kerosene, etc 1.6
All other fuels 5.9
No fuel used 0

In 2020-2024, the median property value for owner-occupied houses in Bracken County, Kentucky was $125,000.

Of the owner-occupied households, 54.3 % had a mortgage. 45.7% owned their houses "free and clear," that is without a primary mortgage or loan on the house. The median monthly housing costs for owners with a mortgage was $1,144 and for owners without a mortgage it was $453.

For renter-occupied houses, the median gross rent for Bracken County, Kentucky was $756. Gross rent includes the monthly contract rent and any monthly payments made for electricity, gas, water and sewer, and any other fuels to heat the house.