City · Carroll County, Kentucky

Carrollton, Kentucky

Carrollton is a city in Carroll County, Kentucky. It has 3,915 residents. Carrollton, Kentucky has a quality-of-life score of 8 out of 100 (very low), ranking #14,327 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Kentucky it ranks #240 of 243 cities and towns. It ranks best on drought exposure (low), time spent in the emergency room (low) and rent-burdened households (low). It ranks worst on math scores (low), arts, entertainment and recreation (low) and reading scores (low).

8Very low

Quality-of-life score: #14,327 of 15,651 cities and towns
Kentucky: #240 of 243 in KY
Population: 3,915 (2020-2024)
Land area: 2 mi²
Density: 1,923.1 /mi²
FIPS code: 2113024

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 71 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.

Safety52#7,535/15,637
Economy19#12,695/15,631
Housing95#687/14,977
Health4#15,005/15,609
Healthcare7#14,520/15,650
Environment18#12,659/15,453
Education3#15,211/15,649
Infrastructure17#13,031/15,650
Community8#14,380/15,651
Leisure & amenities4#15,093/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Carrollton, Kentucky ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Carroll 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

Drought exposure · low0%
98/100Kentucky 21%United States 43%Oct 2025–Sep 2026National Drought Mitigation Center (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), USDA and NOAACarroll County value
Time spent in the emergency room · low105 min
94/100Kentucky 153 minUnited States 170 minOct 2024–Sep 2025Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesCarroll County value
Rent-burdened households · low26.7%
93/100Kentucky 45.4%United States 51.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25070
Property crime rate · low421 /100k
93/100Kentucky 1,262 /100kUnited States 1,535 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationCarroll County value
Job growth · high2.6%
92/100Kentucky -0.4%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataCarroll County value
Distance to an emergency room · low3.1 mi
91/100Kentucky 6.4 miUnited States 5.5 miJul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesCarroll County value

Weaknesses

Math scores · low1.95
0/100Kentucky 3.00United States 3.032019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteCarroll County value
Arts, entertainment and recreation · low0.0 /10k
1/100Kentucky 4.4 /10kUnited States 5.5 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsCarroll County value
Reading scores · low2.39
1/100Kentucky 3.05United States 3.052019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteCarroll County value
Pharmacies · low0.0 /10k
1/100Kentucky 2.4 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsCarroll County value
Bachelor's degree or higher · low4.6%
2/100Kentucky 27.5%United States 35.7%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B15003High uncertainty
Public EV charging ports · low0.0 /10k
3/100Kentucky 2.6 /10kUnited States 7.6 /10kOct 2026U.S. Department of EnergyCarroll County value

Trends

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

New homes permittedImproving
1.5 /1k (2021) → 4.1 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
+164%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
51.4% (2015-2019) → 26.7% (2020-2024)
−25 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
62.1% (2015-2019) → 84.3% (2020-2024)
+22 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Child poverty rateImproving
46.7% (2015-2019) → 31.0% (2020-2024)
−16 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Rent as share of incomeImproving
31.7% (2015-2019) → 18.3% (2020-2024)
−13 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
High school diploma or higherImproving
76.9% (2015-2019) → 86.5% (2020-2024)
+9.7 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 88.0% → 89.6%

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, Carrollton, Kentucky improved on 1 of 11 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 10 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.

Improved1

Broadband+22 points62.1% → 84.3%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 11 measures

Change of every measure of Carrollton, Kentucky between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	18.1 min2015-2019	19.3 min2020-2024	+1.1 min	Within the margin of error	35%
Broadband subscriptions	62.1%2015-2019	84.3%2020-2024	+22 points	Improved	93%
Child poverty rate	46.7%2015-2019	31.0%2020-2024	−16 points	Within the margin of error	90%
High school diploma or higher	76.9%2015-2019	86.5%2020-2024	+9.7 points	Within the margin of error	95%
Home price to income ratio	3.4×2015-2019	2.5×2020-2024	−0.9×	Within the margin of error	97%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4842015-2019	0.4502020-2024	−0.034	Within the margin of error	76%
Median household income	$40,0612015-2019	$45,8712020-2024	+15%	Within the margin of error	23%
Poverty rate	26.4%2015-2019	22.8%2020-2024	−3.7 points	Within the margin of error	73%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent-burdened households	51.4%2015-2019	26.7%2020-2024	−25 points	Within the margin of error	96%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	11.5%2015-2019	14.3%2020-2024	+2.8 points	Within the margin of error	20%

“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 Carrollton, Kentucky five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Carrollton, 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, Carrollton, Kentucky itself moved +19 points in standing on average over the same 7 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

3,915 residents (±17)

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

1,562 households (±138)

Carrollton, Kentucky
Kentucky share

Under $25k27%†426
$25k–50k26%†413
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

1,562 households (±138)

Carrollton, Kentucky
Kentucky share

Own37%574
Rent63%988

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

Table view

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

1,381 workers (±255)

Carrollton, Kentucky
Kentucky share

Drive alone89%1,231
Carpool7.6%†105
Public transit0.0%0

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 Carroll County, the county holding most of Carrollton's residents.

Carroll County has 233 employer establishments, 212 for every 10,000 residents (0.85× the US rate of 248; 1.02× Kentucky's), with 6,600 paid employees at an average annual pay of $75,360. The Census Bureau also counts 598 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 233; 598 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 212; US 248 · Kentucky 207
Paid employees: 6,600
Average annual pay: $75,360; US $68,342

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

Restaurants and other eating places	19	17.3	0.94×About typical	406	$21,067	—
Ambulatory health care services	15	13.7	0.66×Fewer than typical	70	$46,357	11
Truck transportation	13	11.8	2.34×More than typical	272	$34,118	19
Gasoline stations	11	10	3.09×More than typical	75	$25,893	—
Limited-service restaurants	11	10	1.25×About typical	266	$20,650	—
Religious organizations	9	8.2	1.48×Too few to compare	20	$23,450	—
Auto parts, accessories and tire stores	7	6.4	3.65×Too few to compare	47	$27,064	—
Full-service restaurants	7	6.4	0.83×Too few to compare	121	$23,231	—
Services to buildings and dwellings	7	6.4	0.95×Too few to compare	215	$37,344	55
Accounting, tax preparation and payroll services	6	5.5	1.34×Too few to compare	29	$44,897	3
Banks and credit unions	6	5.5	1.69×Too few to compare	44	$55,932	—
Traveler accommodation	6	5.5	3.03×Too few to compare	73	$18,671	—

Rank places for an industry Open Carroll County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 10,984 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 $0 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Carrollton, Kentucky: $0 per resident (US $1,995).

Obligations: $0
Per resident: $0; US $1,995
Sole-source: —; US 30%
Single offer: —; 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

Top recipients

Spending by fiscal year

305FY2018

What was bought

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 6, 2026, loaded Oct 6, 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 Carrollton, Kentucky, so they do not add up across cities.

Carrollton, Kentucky's figures are part of those of Carroll County, KY ($22.3K in FY2026), never added to them: 0.0% of that total.

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

See federal money in Carroll 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.

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

House

Thomas MassieR-KY-4 · 100% of residentsWith party 85%Missed 5.9%

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.

Carroll County13100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Carroll County

Largest first.

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/2113024

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends