City · Estill County, Kentucky

Irvine, Kentucky

Irvine is a city in Estill County, Kentucky, part of the Richmond-Berea, KY metro area. It has 2,723 residents. Irvine, Kentucky has a quality-of-life score of 14 out of 100 (very low), ranking #13,404 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Kentucky it ranks #217 of 243 cities and towns. It ranks best on violent crime rate (low), job growth (high) and property crime rate (low). It ranks worst on drug overdose deaths (high), life expectancy (low) and injury deaths (high).

14Very low

Quality-of-life score: #13,404 of 15,651 cities and towns
Kentucky: #217 of 243 in KY
Population: 2,723 (2020-2024)
Land area: 1 mi²
Density: 1,867.5 /mi²
FIPS code: 2139646

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.

Safety63#5,742/15,637
Economy7#14,475/15,631
Housing83#2,497/14,977
Health1#15,471/15,609
Healthcare18#12,857/15,650
Environment33#10,394/15,453
Education17#13,019/15,649
Infrastructure11#13,858/15,650
Community24#11,880/15,651
Leisure & amenities23#12,109/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Violent crime rate · low15 /100k
100/100Kentucky 212 /100kUnited States 328 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationEstill County value
Job growth · high6.2%
99/100Kentucky -0.4%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataEstill County value
Property crime rate · low339 /100k
95/100Kentucky 1,262 /100kUnited States 1,535 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationEstill County value
Pharmacies · high2.9 /10k
95/100Kentucky 2.4 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsEstill County value
Rent-burdened households · low35.6%
93/100Kentucky 45.4%United States 51.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25070
Rent as share of income · low23.7%
88/100Kentucky 28.1%United States 30.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25071

Weaknesses

Drug overdose deaths · high107.6 /100k
0/100Kentucky 23.1 /100kUnited States 18.4 /100kMar 2025–Feb 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataEstill County value
Life expectancy · low68.7 yrs
1/100Kentucky 73.6 yrsUnited States 77.6 yrs2021-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteEstill County value
Injury deaths · high192 /100k
1/100Kentucky 115 /100kUnited States 87 /100k2019-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteEstill County value
Premature death · high17,742 /100k
2/100Kentucky 11,364 /100kUnited States 8,123 /100k2021-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteEstill County value
Child care cost burden · high44.1%
2/100Kentucky 25.2%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteEstill County value
Adult smoking · high24.4%
3/100Kentucky 17.6%United States 16.1%2022University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate

Trends

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

PopulationRising
2,439 (2015-2019) → 2,723 (2020-2024)
+12%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Child poverty rateImproving
43.4% (2015-2019) → 13.7% (2020-2024)
−30 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
67.6% (2015-2019) → 85.2% (2020-2024)
+18 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Median household incomeImproving
$27,168 (2015-2019) → $42,805 (2020-2024)
+58%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Poverty rateImproving
30.1% (2015-2019) → 19.4% (2020-2024)
−11 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
46.2% (2015-2019) → 35.6% (2020-2024)
−11 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%

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, Irvine, Kentucky improved on 4 of 14 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.

Improved4

Child poverty−30 points43.4% → 13.7%
Poverty−11 points30.1% → 19.4%
Bachelor's++9.9 points13.2% → 23.1%
Broadband+18 points67.6% → 85.2%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 14 measures

Change of every measure of Irvine, Kentucky between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	30.7 min2015-2019	28.3 min2020-2024	−2.5 min	Within the margin of error	75%
Bachelor's degree or higher	13.2%2015-2019	23.1%2020-2024	+9.9 points	Improved	90%
Broadband subscriptions	67.6%2015-2019	85.2%2020-2024	+18 points	Improved	86%
Child poverty rate	43.4%2015-2019	13.7%2020-2024	−30 points	Improved	98%
Effective property tax rate	0.94%2015-2019	0.62%2020-2024	−0.3 points	Within the margin of error	77%
High school diploma or higher	80.2%2015-2019	85.2%2020-2024	+5 points	Within the margin of error	82%
Home price to income ratio	3.2×2015-2019	3.3×2020-2024	+0.1×	Within the margin of error	76%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4482015-2019	0.4612020-2024	+0.012	Within the margin of error	40%
Median household income	$27,1682015-2019	$42,8052020-2024	+58%	Within the margin of error	89%
Poverty rate	30.1%2015-2019	19.4%2020-2024	−11 points	Improved	94%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	29.2%2015-2019	23.7%2020-2024	−5.5 points	Within the margin of error	84%
Rent-burdened households	46.2%2015-2019	35.6%2020-2024	−11 points	Within the margin of error	83%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	8.2%2015-2019	11.6%2020-2024	+3.4 points	Within the margin of error	17%

“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 Irvine, Kentucky five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Irvine, 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, Irvine, Kentucky itself moved +14.6 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

2,723 residents (±576)

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

1,184 households (±185)

Irvine, Kentucky
Kentucky share

Under $25k31%†362
$25k–50k24%†288
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

1,184 households (±185)

Irvine, Kentucky
Kentucky share

Own44%523
Rent56%661

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

975 workers (±251)

Irvine, Kentucky
Kentucky share

Drive alone74%721
Carpool8.3%†81
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 Estill County, the county holding most of Irvine's residents.

Estill County has 179 employer establishments, 129 for every 10,000 residents (0.52× the US rate of 248; 0.62× Kentucky's), with 1,542 paid employees at an average annual pay of $44,877. The Census Bureau also counts 782 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 179; 782 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 129; US 248 · Kentucky 207
Paid employees: 1,542
Average annual pay: $44,877; US $68,342

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

Ambulatory health care services	21	15.1	0.72×Fewer than typical	184	$68,946	19
Religious organizations	16	11.5	2.07×More than typical	43	$14,837	—
Restaurants and other eating places	16	11.5	0.63×Fewer than typical	202	$15,748	4
General merchandise stores	8	5.7	3.25×Too few to compare	57	$21,088	13
Limited-service restaurants	8	5.7	0.72×Too few to compare	173	$14,520	3
Offices of physicians	8	5.7	0.89×Too few to compare	105	$92,057	3
Construction of buildings	7	5	0.66×Too few to compare	22	$27,091	40
Full-service restaurants	7	5	0.65×Too few to compare	26	$20,269	—
Specialty trade contractors	7	5	0.32×Too few to compare	6	$38,167	111
Individual and family services	6	4.3	1.54×Too few to compare	35	$27,029	9
Truck transportation	6	4.3	0.85×Too few to compare	13	$33,462	17
Accounting, tax preparation and payroll services	5	3.6	0.88×Too few to compare	29	$11,690	9

Rank places for an industry Open Estill County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 13,923 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

No federal contract obligations recorded here in FY2026.

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

See federal money in Estill 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.

Irvine, 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.

Estill County20100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Richmond-Berea, KY33

Other cities and towns in Estill County

Largest first.

Ravenna642

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/2139646

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends