Census-designated place · McCreary County, Kentucky

Stearns, Kentucky

Stearns is a census-designated place in McCreary County, Kentucky. It has 1,271 residents. Stearns, Kentucky has a quality-of-life score of 26 out of 100 (low), ranking #11,628 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Kentucky it ranks #145 of 243 cities and towns. It ranks best on property crime rate (low), access to exercise opportunities (high) and violent crime rate (low). It ranks worst on primary care physicians (low), dental care shortage (high) and adult smoking (high).

26Low

Quality-of-life score: #11,628 of 15,651 cities and towns
Kentucky: #145 of 243 in KY
Population: 1,271 (2020-2024)
Land area: 4 mi²
Density: 315.9 /mi²
FIPS code: 2173362

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 69 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.

Safety60#6,224/15,637
Economy4#14,931/15,631
Housing89#1,591/14,977
Health0#15,583/15,609
Healthcare1#15,533/15,650
Environment95#770/15,453
Education51#7,657/15,649
Infrastructure14#13,440/15,650
Community27#11,369/15,651
Leisure & amenities12#13,724/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Stearns, Kentucky ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “McCreary 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 · low79 /100k
100/100Kentucky 1,262 /100kUnited States 1,535 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationMcCreary County value
Access to exercise opportunities · high100.0%
100/100Kentucky 69.8%United States 84.5%2022 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMcCreary County value
Violent crime rate · low16 /100k
100/100Kentucky 212 /100kUnited States 328 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationMcCreary County value
Drinking water violations · low0
86/100Kentucky 0United States 02024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMcCreary County value
Grocery stores · high2.3 /10k
84/100Kentucky 1.6 /10kUnited States 1.7 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsMcCreary County value
Natural hazard risk · low10.1
83/100Kentucky 49.72025Federal Emergency Management AgencyMcCreary County value

Weaknesses

Primary care physicians · low6 /100k
0/100Kentucky 63 /100kUnited States 76 /100k2022University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMcCreary County value
Dental care shortage · high21.0
0/100Kentucky 10.9United States 5.7Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationMcCreary County value
Adult smoking · high29.6%
0/100Kentucky 17.6%United States 16.1%2022University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
Arts, entertainment and recreation · low0.0 /10k
1/100Kentucky 4.4 /10kUnited States 5.5 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsMcCreary County value
Mammography screening · low28.0%
1/100Kentucky 45.0%United States 46.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMcCreary County value
Dentists · low12 /100k
1/100Kentucky 67 /100kUnited States 75 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMcCreary County value

Trends

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

PopulationRising
1,190 (2015-2019) → 1,271 (2020-2024)
+6.8%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
0.0% (2015-2019) → 61.1% (2020-2024)
+61 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
50.9% (2015-2019) → 85.4% (2020-2024)
+34 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Median household incomeImproving
$22,826 (2015-2019) → $55,931 (2020-2024)
+145%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
10.8% (2015-2019) → 36.2% (2020-2024)
+25 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
Rent as share of incomeWorsening
9.0% (2015-2019) → 28.0% (2019-2023)
+19 pts4 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.2%

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, Stearns, Kentucky improved on 1 of 4 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 3 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+34 points50.9% → 85.4%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 4 measures

Change of every measure of Stearns, Kentucky between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Broadband subscriptions	50.9%2015-2019	85.4%2020-2024	+34 points	Improved	99%
High school diploma or higher	89.6%2015-2019	83.5%2020-2024	−6.1 points	Within the margin of error	4%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4272015-2019	0.3922020-2024	−0.035	Within the margin of error	77%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15075 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 Stearns, Kentucky five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Stearns, 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.

No place that looked like Stearns, Kentucky five years ago has more measures that improved than declined, with a higher standing among its peers today.

For comparison, Stearns, Kentucky itself moved +4.9 points in standing on average over the same 3 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

1,271 residents (±409)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†
50–59†
40–49†
30–39†
20–29†
10–19†
Under 10†

Share of all residents, each sex

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: 20–29 men (+10.5 points).

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

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B01001View table on data.census.gov

Race and Hispanic origin

1,271 residents (±409)

Stearns, Kentucky
Kentucky share

White100%†1,271
Black0.0%0
Hispanic or Latino0.0%0

Education

879 residents (±267)

Stearns, Kentucky
Kentucky share

No high school diploma16%†145
High school or GED28%†243
Some college14%†

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Income

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

Household income

485 households (±142)

Stearns, Kentucky
Kentucky share

Under $25k22%†109
$25k–50k21%†100
$50k–75k24%†114
$75k–100k9.9%†48
$100k–150k18%†85
$150k–200k4.9%†24
$200k or more1.0%†5

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Under $25k (−32.1 points).

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

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B19001View table on data.census.gov

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Homes

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

Owners and renters

485 households (±142)

Stearns, Kentucky
Kentucky share

Own93%†449
Rent7.4%†36

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

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B25003View table on data.census.gov

Rent paid

36 households (±33)

Stearns, Kentucky
Kentucky share

Under $750100%†36
$750–1,0000.0%0
$1,000–1,5000.0%0

Home values

449 homes (±147)

Stearns, Kentucky
Kentucky share

Under $150k38%†169
$150k–250k39%†176
$250k–400k6.5%†29

Age of homes

679 homes (±166)

Stearns, Kentucky
Kentucky share

2010 or later3.2%†22
2000–200916%†110
1980–199938%†258

Size of homes

679 homes (±166)

Stearns, Kentucky
Kentucky share

Studio0.0%0
1 bedroom12%†82
2 bedrooms9.7%†66

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

402 workers (±171)

Stearns, Kentucky
Kentucky share

Drive alone87%†348
Carpool0.0%0
Public transit0.0%0
Walk0.0%0
Bike0.0%0
Work from home13%†54
Other0.0%0

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

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B08301View table on data.census.gov

Time to get to work

348 workers (±176)

Stearns, Kentucky
Kentucky share

Under 15 min22%†78
15–29 min49%†169
30–44 min7.8%†27

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

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 McCreary County, the county holding most of Stearns's residents.

McCreary County has 157 employer establishments, 91.8 for every 10,000 residents (0.37× the US rate of 248; 0.44× Kentucky's), with 1,522 paid employees at an average annual pay of $33,185. The Census Bureau also counts 946 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 157; 946 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 91.8; US 248 · Kentucky 207
Paid employees: 1,522
Average annual pay: $33,185; US $68,342

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

Ambulatory health care services	13	7.6	0.36×Fewer than typical	130	$49,915	39
Restaurants and other eating places	13	7.6	0.41×Fewer than typical	239	$13,661	5
General merchandise stores	8	4.7	2.65×Too few to compare	56	$20,125	7
Limited-service restaurants	8	4.7	0.58×Too few to compare	193	$14,373	—
Religious organizations	8	4.7	0.84×Too few to compare	17	$24,412	—
Gasoline stations	7	4.1	1.26×Too few to compare	41	$13,829	—
Offices of physicians	7	4.1	0.63×Too few to compare	63	$48,429	4
Auto parts, accessories and tire stores	6	3.5	2.01×Too few to compare	21	$23,667	7
Grocery and convenience stores	5	2.9	0.99×Too few to compare	106	$28,953	4
Individual and family services	5	2.9	1.04×Too few to compare	14	$36,929	13
Lessors of real estate	5	2.9	0.24×Too few to compare	12	$21,667	32
Child day care services	4	2.3	0.96×Too few to compare	46	$17,261	11

Rank places for an industry Open McCreary County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 17,098 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 $745.8K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Stearns, Kentucky: $587 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $745.8K; −61% vs FY2025
Per resident: $587; US $1,994
Sole-source: 0.3%; US 30%
Single offer: 92%; 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

149.8KFY2017
283.2KFY2018
466.6KFY2019
232.7KFY2020
731.1KFY2021
147.5KFY2022
2.2MFY2023
3M

Top industries (NAICS)

Other textile product mills · 3149$672K90%
Industrial machinery manufacturing · 3332$12.3K1.6%
Electrical equipment manufacturing · 3353$12.2K1.6%
Nonscheduled air transportation · 4812$11.7K1.6%
Other general purpose machinery manufacturing · 3339$9,1571.2%
Ventilation, heating, air-conditioning, and refrigeration equipment manufacturing · 3334$8,9311.2%

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

Stearns, Kentucky's figures are part of those of McCreary County, KY ($32.7M in FY2026), never added to them: 2.3% of that total.

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

See federal money in McCreary 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.

Stearns, 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.

McCreary County20100% of residents

Other cities and towns in McCreary 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
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/2173362

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends