City · Madison County, Kentucky

Berea, Kentucky

Berea is a city in Madison County, Kentucky, part of the Richmond-Berea, KY metro area. It has 15,786 residents. Berea, Kentucky has a quality-of-life score of 30 out of 100 (low), ranking #11,014 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Kentucky it ranks #123 of 243 cities and towns. It ranks best on new business applications (high), distance to an emergency room (low) and new homes permitted (high). It ranks worst on grocery stores (low), drug overdose deaths (high) and public libraries (low).

30Low

Quality-of-life score: #11,014 of 15,651 cities and towns
Kentucky: #123 of 243 in KY
Population: 15,786 (2020-2024)
Land area: 17 mi²
Density: 955.9 /mi²
FIPS code: 2105842

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 73 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety55#6,957/15,637
Economy27#11,373/15,631
Housing89#1,617/14,977
Health17#12,994/15,609
Healthcare35#10,216/15,650
Environment55#6,960/15,453
Education38#9,663/15,649
Infrastructure39#9,613/15,650
Community11#14,007/15,651
Leisure & amenities14#13,452/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Berea, Kentucky ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Madison County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

New business applications · high31.2 /1k
98/100Kentucky 13.9 /1kUnited States 16.6 /1k2025U.S. Census BureauMadison County value
Distance to an emergency room · low3.3 mi
88/100Kentucky 6.4 miUnited States 5.5 miJul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesMadison County value
New homes permitted · high8.4 /1k
85/100Kentucky 3.2 /1kUnited States 4.2 /1kSep 2025–Aug 2026U.S. Census BureauProvisional data
Rent-burdened households · low45.0%
82/100Kentucky 45.4%United States 51.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25070
Natural hazard risk · low11.7
81/100Kentucky 49.72025Federal Emergency Management AgencyMadison County value
Rent as share of income · low27.7%
81/100Kentucky 28.1%United States 30.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25071

Weaknesses

Grocery stores · low0.6 /10k
3/100Kentucky 1.6 /10kUnited States 1.7 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsMadison County value
Drug overdose deaths · high34.1 /100k
6/100Kentucky 23.1 /100kUnited States 18.4 /100kMar 2025–Feb 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataMadison County value
Public libraries · low0.2 /10k
7/100Kentucky 0.6 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesMadison County value
Job growth · low-2.8%
7/100Kentucky -0.4%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataMadison County value
Primary care shortage · high17.0
9/100Kentucky 10.2United States 6.2Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationMadison County value
Depression · high28.5%
10/100Kentucky 27.4%United States 20.7%2022Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

New homes permittedImproving
4.3 /1k (2021) → 8.4 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
+97%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
79.8% (2015-2019) → 90.4% (2020-2024)
+11 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
34.7% (2015-2019) → 45.0% (2020-2024)
+10 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Median household incomeImproving
$44,292 (2015-2019) → $59,495 (2020-2024)
+34%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Uninsured residents (under 65)Improving
10.7% (2015-2019) → 5.9% (2020-2024)
−4.8 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 9.8%
Rent as share of incomeWorsening
24.6% (2015-2019) → 27.7% (2020-2024)
+3.1 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Berea, Kentucky improved on 3 of 14 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 11 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved3

Uninsured−4.8 points10.7% → 5.9%
Household income+34%$44,292 → $59,495
Broadband+11 points79.8% → 90.4%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 14 measures

Change of every measure of Berea, Kentucky between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	20.8 min2015-2019	23.1 min2020-2024	+2.3 min	Within the margin of error	25%
Bachelor's degree or higher	29.4%2015-2019	27.2%2020-2024	−2.2 points	Within the margin of error	15%
Broadband subscriptions	79.8%2015-2019	90.4%2020-2024	+11 points	Improved	62%
Child poverty rate	21.0%2015-2019	21.9%2020-2024	+0.9 points	Within the margin of error	35%
Effective property tax rate	0.87%2015-2019	0.70%2020-2024	−0.2 points	Within the margin of error	51%
High school diploma or higher	86.2%2015-2019	85.5%2020-2024	−0.7 points	Within the margin of error	26%
Home price to income ratio	3.1×2015-2019	3.4×2020-2024	+0.2×	Within the margin of error	67%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4392015-2019	0.4272020-2024	−0.012	Within the margin of error	61%
Median household income	$44,2922015-2019	$59,4952020-2024	+34%	Improved	64%
Poverty rate	19.8%2015-2019	17.9%2020-2024	−1.9 points	Within the margin of error	62%
Rent as share of income	24.6%2015-2019	27.7%2020-2024	+3.1 points	Within the margin of error	32%
Rent-burdened households	34.7%2015-2019	45.0%2020-2024	+10 points	Within the margin of error	23%
Unemployment rate	4.9%2015-2019	4.2%2020-2024	−0.7 points	Within the margin of error	64%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	10.7%2015-2019	5.9%2020-2024	−4.8 points	Improved	86%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Berea, Kentucky five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Berea, Kentucky in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Berea, Kentucky itself moved −4.6 points in standing on average over the same 10 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

15,786 residents (±59)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79
60–69

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

5,519 households (±255)

Berea, Kentucky
Kentucky share

Under $25k22%1,219
$25k–50k19%1,044
$50k–75k24%1,332

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

5,519 households (±255)

Berea, Kentucky
Kentucky share

Own59%3,242
Rent41%2,277

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Own (+7.0 points).

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

6,814 workers (±381)

Berea, Kentucky
Kentucky share

Drive alone68%4,623
Carpool11%†766
Public transit0.0%0

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the Richmond-Berea, KY

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Madison County, the county holding most of Berea's residents.

Madison County has 1,808 employer establishments, 185 for every 10,000 residents (0.75× the US rate of 248; 0.89× Kentucky's), with 25,781 paid employees at an average annual pay of $46,103. The Census Bureau also counts 7,014 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 1,808; 7,014 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 185; US 248 · Kentucky 207
Paid employees: 25,781
Average annual pay: $46,103; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Madison County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Ambulatory health care services	193	19.8	0.95×About typical	1,784	$61,849	314
Restaurants and other eating places	130	13.3	0.73×Fewer than typical	3,263	$17,973	25
Specialty trade contractors	120	12.3	0.79×Fewer than typical	911	$55,173	643
Lessors of real estate	85	8.7	0.71×Fewer than typical	190	$41,647	793
Limited-service restaurants	70	7.2	0.89×About typical	1,897	$17,492	12
Offices of other health practitioners	61	6.3	1.03×About typical	374	$41,810	172
Religious organizations	58	5.9	1.07×About typical	331	$20,287	—
Individual and family services	57	5.8	2.09×More than typical	836	$44,622	56
Offices of physicians	56	5.7	0.89×About typical	683	$86,367	40
Gasoline stations	53	5.4	1.68×More than typical	727	$34,462	—
Building equipment contractors	52	5.3	0.89×About typical	479	$57,171	142
Construction of buildings	52	5.3	0.70×Fewer than typical	234	$48,769	228

Rank places for an industry Open Madison County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 97,551 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $39.9K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Berea, Kentucky: $2.53 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $39.9K; −93% vs FY2025
Per resident: $2.53; US $1,994
Sole-source: 0.0%; US 30%
Single offer: 48%; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Department of the Navy$20.8K52%
Department of the Army$19.1K48%

Top recipients

Spending by fiscal year

539.3KFY2017
5.3KFY2018
11.1KFY2019
26.8KFY2020
2.2KFY2021
31.2KFY2022
41.2KFY2023
37KFY2024

Top industries (NAICS)

Aerospace product and parts manufacturing · 3364$39.9K100.0%

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Berea, Kentucky, so they do not add up across cities.

Berea, Kentucky's figures are part of those of Madison County, KY ($32.9M in FY2026), never added to them: 0.1% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Berea is mostly in Madison County.

See federal money in Madison County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Berea, Kentucky is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

Andy BarrR-KY-6 · 100% of residentsWith party 99%Missed 7.1%

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Madison County47100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Richmond-Berea, KY33

Other cities and towns in Madison County

Largest first.

Richmond2637,111

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/2105842

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends