City · Magoffin County, Kentucky

Salyersville, Kentucky

Salyersville is a city in Magoffin County, Kentucky. It has 1,708 residents. Salyersville, Kentucky has a quality-of-life score of 12 out of 100 (very low), ranking #13,761 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Kentucky it ranks #227 of 243 cities and towns. It ranks best on pharmacies (high), violent crime rate (low) and property crime rate (low). It ranks worst on poverty rate (high), median household income (low) and primary care shortage (high).

12Very low

Quality-of-life score: #13,761 of 15,651 cities and towns
Kentucky: #227 of 243 in KY
Population: 1,708 (2020-2024)
Land area: 2 mi²
Density: 691.9 /mi²
FIPS code: 2168232

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#2,644/15,637
Economy2#15,352/15,631
Housing80#2,961/14,977
Health0#15,540/15,609
Healthcare11#13,890/15,650
Environment31#10,643/15,453
Education16#13,214/15,649
Infrastructure26#11,541/15,650
Community1#15,456/15,651
Leisure & amenities6#14,674/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Pharmacies · high4.5 /10k
100/100Kentucky 2.4 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsMagoffin County value
Violent crime rate · low28 /100k
100/100Kentucky 212 /100kUnited States 328 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationCovers part of the area: some reporting agencies or member counties have no figureMagoffin County value
Property crime rate · low140 /100k
100/100Kentucky 1,262 /100kUnited States 1,535 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationCovers part of the area: some reporting agencies or member counties have no figureMagoffin County value
Job growth · high4.6%
97/100Kentucky -0.4%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataMagoffin County value
Uninsured residents (under 65) · low1.5%
94/100Kentucky 8.1%United States 9.8%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B27010High uncertainty
Homicide rate · low0.0 /100k
94/100Kentucky 5.5 /100kUnited States 4.8 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataMagoffin County value

Weaknesses

Poverty rate · high58.2%
0/100Kentucky 15.4%United States 12.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B17001
Median household income · low$20,580
0/100Kentucky $64,481United States $81,6042020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B19013
Primary care shortage · high22.0
0/100Kentucky 10.2United States 6.2Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationMagoffin County value
Dental care shortage · high21.0
0/100Kentucky 10.9United States 5.7Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationMagoffin County value
Access to exercise opportunities · low5.8%
0/100Kentucky 69.8%United States 84.5%2022 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMagoffin County value
Average weekly wage · low$779
0/100Kentucky $1,202United States $1,5142025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsMagoffin County value

Trends

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

PopulationFalling
2,033 (2015-2019) → 1,708 (2020-2024)
−16%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
70.4% (2015-2019) → 91.0% (2020-2024)
+21 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Poverty rateWorsening
41.2% (2015-2019) → 58.2% (2020-2024)
+17 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%
Child poverty rateWorsening
53.5% (2015-2019) → 69.8% (2020-2024)
+16 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Unemployment rateImproving
13.7% (2015-2019) → 7.1% (2020-2024)
−6.5 pts5 yearsCensus table B23025US 3.7% → 4.0%
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
54.9% (2015-2019) → 59.3% (2020-2024)
+4.4 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, Salyersville, Kentucky improved on 1 of 8 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 6 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+21 points70.4% → 91.0%

Declined1

Poverty+17 points41.2% → 58.2%

All 8 measures

Change of every measure of Salyersville, Kentucky between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Bachelor's degree or higher	14.6%2015-2019	10.3%2020-2024	−4.3 points	Within the margin of error	8%
Broadband subscriptions	70.4%2015-2019	91.0%2020-2024	+21 points	Improved	91%
Child poverty rate	53.5%2015-2019	69.8%2020-2024	+16 points	Within the margin of error	6%
High school diploma or higher	69.4%2015-2019	69.3%2020-2024	−0.2 points	Within the margin of error	31%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.5632015-2019	0.4792020-2024	−0.083	Within the margin of error	93%
Median household income	$25,6902015-2019	$20,5802020-2024	−20%	Within the margin of error	1%
Poverty rate	41.2%2015-2019	58.2%2020-2024	+17 points	Declined	1%
Rent as share of income	31.9%2015-2019	34.5%2020-2024	+2.6 points	Within the margin of error	35%

“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 Salyersville, Kentucky five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Salyersville, 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, Salyersville, Kentucky itself moved +3.8 points in standing on average over the same 6 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

1,708 residents (±334)

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

790 households (±161)

Salyersville, Kentucky
Kentucky share

Under $25k59%466
$25k–50k12%†91
$50k–75k11%†89

Homes

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

Owners and renters

790 households (±161)

Salyersville, Kentucky
Kentucky share

Own52%†414
Rent48%†376

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

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

355 workers (±148)

Salyersville, Kentucky
Kentucky share

Drive alone85%†302
Carpool5.6%†20
Public transit

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 Magoffin County, the county holding most of Salyersville's residents.

Magoffin County has 156 employer establishments, 139 for every 10,000 residents (0.56× the US rate of 248; 0.67× Kentucky's), with 1,257 paid employees at an average annual pay of $36,695. The Census Bureau also counts 666 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 156; 666 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 139; US 248 · Kentucky 207
Paid employees: 1,257
Average annual pay: $36,695; US $68,342

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

Truck transportation	20	17.8	3.52×More than typical	28	$31,643	31
Ambulatory health care services	18	16	0.77×Fewer than typical	197	$48,117	21
Restaurants and other eating places	11	9.8	0.53×Fewer than typical	253	$16,312	3
Offices of physicians	9	8	1.24×Too few to compare	107	$57,785	—
Legal services	8	7.1	1.33×Too few to compare	49	$38,918	5
Limited-service restaurants	7	6.2	0.78×Too few to compare	235	$16,438	—
General merchandise stores	6	5.3	3.02×Too few to compare	33	$25,000	4
Health and personal care stores	6	5.3	2.02×Too few to compare	60	$48,167	8
Pharmacies and drug stores	6	5.3	4.31×Too few to compare	60	$48,167	—
Gasoline stations	5	4.5	1.37×Too few to compare	47	$15,979	—
Specialty trade contractors	5	4.5	0.29×Too few to compare	16	$45,063	64
Accounting, tax preparation and payroll services	4	3.6	0.88×Too few to compare	7	$15,857	10

Rank places for an industry Open Magoffin County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 11,224 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: Salyersville is mostly in Magoffin County.

See federal money in Magoffin 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.

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

House

Harold RogersR-KY-5 · 100% of residentsWith party 97%Missed 1.8%

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.

Magoffin County7100% 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
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/2168232

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends