City · Garrard County, Kentucky

Lancaster, Kentucky

Lancaster is a city in Garrard County, Kentucky. It has 4,013 residents. Lancaster, Kentucky has a quality-of-life score of 11 out of 100 (very low), ranking #13,863 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Kentucky it ranks #230 of 243 cities and towns. It ranks best on property crime rate (low), homicide rate (low) and violent crime rate (low). It ranks worst on drug overdose deaths (high), adult smoking (high) and depression (high).

11Very low

Quality-of-life score: #13,863 of 15,651 cities and towns
Kentucky: #230 of 243 in KY
Population: 4,013 (2020-2024)
Land area: 3 mi²
Density: 1,590.2 /mi²
FIPS code: 2143840

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 70 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.

Safety83#2,636/15,637
Economy3#15,199/15,631
Housing56#6,523/14,977
Health3#15,149/15,609
Healthcare2#15,380/15,650
Environment60#6,172/15,453
Education18#12,783/15,649
Infrastructure13#13,601/15,650
Community10#14,060/15,651
Leisure & amenities2#15,363/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Property crime rate · low339 /100k
95/100Kentucky 1,262 /100kUnited States 1,535 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationGarrard County value
Homicide rate · low0.0 /100k
94/100Kentucky 5.5 /100kUnited States 4.8 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataGarrard County value
Violent crime rate · low93 /100k
87/100Kentucky 212 /100kUnited States 328 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationGarrard County value
Drinking water violations · low0
86/100Kentucky 0United States 02024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteGarrard County value
Public libraries · high1.1 /10k
79/100Kentucky 0.6 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesGarrard County value
High ozone days · low0 days
76/100Kentucky 1 daysUnited States 7 days2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyGarrard County value

Weaknesses

Drug overdose deaths · high56.1 /100k
1/100Kentucky 23.1 /100kUnited States 18.4 /100kMar 2025–Feb 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataGarrard County value
Adult smoking · high25.6%
2/100Kentucky 17.6%United States 16.1%2022University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
Depression · high31.1%
3/100Kentucky 27.4%United States 20.7%2022Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Access to exercise opportunities · low33.1%
3/100Kentucky 69.8%United States 84.5%2022 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteGarrard County value
Mental health providers · low39 /100k
4/100Kentucky 329 /100kUnited States 348 /100k2025University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteGarrard County value
Poverty rate · high29.1%
4/100Kentucky 15.4%United States 12.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B17001

Trends

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

High school diploma or higherImproving
67.5% (2015-2019) → 84.4% (2020-2024)
+17 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 88.0% → 89.6%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
70.5% (2015-2019) → 86.8% (2020-2024)
+16 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
47.6% (2015-2019) → 58.5% (2020-2024)
+11 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
2.9× (2015-2019) → 4.0× (2020-2024)
+39%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Rent as share of incomeWorsening
29.3% (2015-2019) → 36.9% (2020-2024)
+7.6 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
Median household incomeImproving
$31,917 (2015-2019) → $43,898 (2020-2024)
+38%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604

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, Lancaster, 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

High school++17 points67.5% → 84.4%
Broadband+16 points70.5% → 86.8%
Household income+38%$31,917 → $43,898

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 14 measures

Change of every measure of Lancaster, Kentucky between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	30.2 min2015-2019	26.2 min2020-2024	−3.9 min	Within the margin of error	85%
Bachelor's degree or higher	10.1%2015-2019	13.2%2020-2024	+3.1 points	Within the margin of error	52%
Broadband subscriptions	70.5%2015-2019	86.8%2020-2024	+16 points	Improved	83%
Child poverty rate	45.3%2015-2019	38.9%2020-2024	−6.3 points	Within the margin of error	73%
Effective property tax rate	0.84%2015-2019	0.76%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	30%
High school diploma or higher	67.5%2015-2019	84.4%2020-2024	+17 points	Improved	99%
Home price to income ratio	2.9×2015-2019	4.0×2020-2024	+1.1×	Within the margin of error	18%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.5582015-2019	0.4822020-2024	−0.077	Within the margin of error	92%
Median household income	$31,9172015-2019	$43,8982020-2024	+38%	Improved	70%
Poverty rate	31.3%2015-2019	29.1%2020-2024	−2.2 points	Within the margin of error	64%
Rent as share of income	29.3%2015-2019	36.9%2020-2024	+7.6 points	Within the margin of error	14%
Rent-burdened households	47.6%2015-2019	58.5%2020-2024	+11 points	Within the margin of error	21%
Unemployment rate	11.3%2015-2019	11.7%2020-2024	+0.4 points	Within the margin of error	39%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	9.3%2015-2019	9.1%2020-2024	−0.2 points	Within the margin of error	50%

“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 Lancaster, Kentucky five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Lancaster, 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, Lancaster, Kentucky itself moved −1.2 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

4,013 residents (±23)

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

1,494 households (±119)

Lancaster, Kentucky
Kentucky share

Under $25k30%454
$25k–50k26%†381
$50k–75k14%†211

Homes

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

Owners and renters

1,494 households (±119)

Lancaster, Kentucky
Kentucky share

Own55%815
Rent45%679

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

1,491 workers (±219)

Lancaster, Kentucky
Kentucky share

Drive alone80%1,188
Carpool11%†169
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 Garrard County, the county holding most of Lancaster's residents.

Garrard County has 251 employer establishments, 141 for every 10,000 residents (0.57× the US rate of 248; 0.68× Kentucky's), with 1,654 paid employees at an average annual pay of $43,192. The Census Bureau also counts 1,572 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 251; 1,572 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 141; US 248 · Kentucky 207
Paid employees: 1,654
Average annual pay: $43,192; US $68,342

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

Specialty trade contractors	45	25.2	1.63×More than typical	305	$61,138	264
Building equipment contractors	21	11.8	1.95×More than typical	167	$67,078	48
Construction of buildings	16	9	1.18×About typical	29	$43,103	102
Plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors	14	7.8	2.37×More than typical	108	$57,630	26
Ambulatory health care services	11	6.2	0.30×Fewer than typical	84	$65,905	31
Restaurants and other eating places	11	6.2	0.34×Fewer than typical	136	$17,596	5
Services to buildings and dwellings	11	6.2	0.91×About typical	44	$35,273	122
Foundation, structure and building exterior contractors	10	5.6	1.78×More than typical	85	$45,635	40
Lessors of real estate	10	5.6	0.45×Fewer than typical	22	$17,182	108
Other specialty trade contractors	10	5.6	2.23×More than typical	50	$66,360	97
Gasoline stations	9	5	1.55×Too few to compare	68	$26,309	—
Insurance agencies and brokerages	9	5	1.15×Too few to compare	26	$32,962	11

Rank places for an industry Open Garrard County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 17,858 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 Lancaster, Kentucky: $0 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $0; −100% vs FY2025
Per resident: $0; US $1,994
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

1KFY2017
100.1FY2018
3.7KFY2019
3KFY2020
2.1KFY2021
4.5KFY2022
3.7KFY2023
6KFY2024
15.4KFY2025

What was bought

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 Lancaster, Kentucky, so they do not add up across cities.

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

See federal money in Garrard 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.

Lancaster, 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.

Garrard County23100% of residents

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/2143840

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends