Census-designated place · Daviess County, Kentucky

Thruston, Kentucky

Thruston is a census-designated place in Daviess County, Kentucky, part of the Owensboro, KY metro area. It has 2,581 residents. Thruston, Kentucky has a quality-of-life score of 32 out of 100 (low), ranking #10,619 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Kentucky it ranks #111 of 243 cities and towns. It ranks best on uninsured residents (under 65) (low), child care cost burden (low) and primary care shortage (low). It ranks worst on public libraries (low), mental health care shortage (high) and suicide rate (high).

32Low

Quality-of-life score: #10,619 of 15,651 cities and towns
Kentucky: #111 of 243 in KY
Population: 2,581 (2020-2024)
Land area: 2 mi²
Density: 1,462.5 /mi²
FIPS code: 2176620

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 74 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.

Safety21#12,420/15,637
Economy30#10,982/15,631
Housing85#2,276/14,977
Health36#10,042/15,609
Healthcare68#4,983/15,650
Environment24#11,772/15,453
Education36#10,002/15,649
Infrastructure26#11,653/15,650
Community40#9,334/15,651
Leisure & amenities35#10,169/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Uninsured residents (under 65) · low0.0%
100/100Kentucky 8.1%United States 9.8%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B27010
Child care cost burden · low20.7%
93/100Kentucky 25.2%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteDaviess County value
Primary care shortage · low0.0
90/100Kentucky 10.2United States 6.2Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationDaviess County value
Pharmacies · high2.4 /10k
87/100Kentucky 2.4 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsDaviess County value
Drinking water violations · low0
86/100Kentucky 0United States 02024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteDaviess County value
Social associations · high13.7 /10k
85/100Kentucky 10.3 /10kUnited States 9.1 /10k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteDaviess County value

Weaknesses

Public libraries · low0.1 /10k
0/100Kentucky 0.6 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesDaviess County value
Mental health care shortage · high19.0
4/100Kentucky 14.9United States 9.9Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationDaviess County value
Suicide rate · high26.1 /100k
7/100Kentucky 18.0 /100kUnited States 14.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataDaviess County value
Distance to an Amtrak station · high116 mi
8/100Kentucky 78 miUnited States 43 mi2026Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauDaviess County value
Public EV charging ports · low0.6 /10k
8/100Kentucky 2.6 /10kUnited States 7.6 /10kOct 2026U.S. Department of EnergyDaviess County value
Hospital quality rating · low2.0
9/100Kentucky 2.8United States 3.2Jul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesDaviess County value

Trends

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

PopulationRising
2,104 (2016-2020) → 2,581 (2020-2024)
+23%4 yearsCensus table B01003US 331,578,104 → 340,003,797
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
19.2% (2016-2020) → 68.8% (2020-2024)
+50 pts4 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.1% → 51.1%
Child poverty rateWorsening
11.1% (2016-2020) → 31.5% (2020-2024)
+20 pts4 yearsCensus table B17001US 15.7% → 15.5%
Poverty rateWorsening
9.5% (2016-2020) → 21.6% (2020-2024)
+12 pts4 yearsCensus table B17001US 11.9% → 12.1%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
1.7× (2016-2020) → 2.7× (2020-2024)
+60%4 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
75.5% (2016-2020) → 85.7% (2020-2024)
+10 pts4 yearsCensus table B28002US 85.2% → 91.0%

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.

There is not enough history to compare Thruston, Kentucky over five years.

Cities and towns like Thruston, Kentucky five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Thruston, 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 Thruston, Kentucky five years ago has more measures that improved than declined, with a higher standing among its peers today.

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

2,581 residents (±783)

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

† 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

2,581 residents (±783)

Thruston, Kentucky
Kentucky share

White98%†2,541
Black1.6%†40
Hispanic or Latino0.0%0
Asian0.0%0
American Indian and Alaska Native0.0%0
Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander0.0%0
Other or two or more races0.0%0

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

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B03002View table on data.census.gov

Education

1,787 residents (±661)

Thruston, Kentucky
Kentucky share

No high school diploma23%†405
High school or GED28%†495
Some college17%†296
Associate degree15%†266
Bachelor's degree9.0%†161
Graduate degree9.2%†164

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

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B15003View 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.

Income

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

Household income

920 households (±254)

Thruston, Kentucky
Kentucky share

Under $25k25%†230
$25k–50k15%†135
$50k–75k10%†96
$75k–100k20%†186
$100k–150k23%†209
$150k–200k7.0%†64
$200k or more0.0%0

† 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

920 households (±254)

Thruston, Kentucky
Kentucky share

Own83%763
Rent17%†157

† 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

157 households (±128)

Thruston, Kentucky
Kentucky share

Under $75048%†75
$750–1,00022%†34
$1,000–1,50031%†48

Home values

763 homes (±225)

Thruston, Kentucky
Kentucky share

Under $150k31%†234
$150k–250k36%†274
$250k–400k27%†204

Age of homes

920 homes (±254)

Thruston, Kentucky
Kentucky share

2010 or later25%†230
2000–200913%†119
1980–199930%†280

Size of homes

920 homes (±254)

Thruston, Kentucky
Kentucky share

Studio0.0%0
1 bedroom0.0%0
2 bedrooms4.2%†39
3 bedrooms

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

1,135 workers (±449)

Thruston, Kentucky
Kentucky share

Drive alone80%†904
Carpool12%†139
Public transit0.0%0
Walk0.0%0
Bike0.0%0
Work from home8.1%†92
Other0.0%0

† 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

1,043 workers (±449)

Thruston, Kentucky
Kentucky share

Under 15 min26%†271
15–29 min45%†469
30–44 min29%†303

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

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 Owensboro, 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 Daviess County, the county holding most of Thruston's residents.

Daviess County has 2,385 employer establishments, 230 for every 10,000 residents (0.93× the US rate of 248; 1.11× Kentucky's), with 43,758 paid employees at an average annual pay of $48,965. The Census Bureau also counts 6,798 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 2,385; 6,798 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 230; US 248 · Kentucky 207
Paid employees: 43,758
Average annual pay: $48,965; US $68,342

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

Ambulatory health care services	254	24.5	1.17×About typical	3,185	$74,097	325
Restaurants and other eating places	165	15.9	0.87×About typical	4,131	$19,852	21
Specialty trade contractors	152	14.6	0.95×About typical	1,508	$55,219	500
Religious organizations	102	9.8	1.77×More than typical	749	$23,003	—
Lessors of real estate	98	9.4	0.77×Fewer than typical	382	$37,673	936
Offices of physicians	85	8.2	1.26×More than typical	1,381	$109,477	65
Limited-service restaurants	77	7.4	0.93×About typical	1,927	$17,651	7
Offices of other health practitioners	73	7	1.16×About typical	523	$43,407	184
Full-service restaurants	70	6.7	0.88×About typical	1,991	$22,068	10
Building equipment contractors	65	6.3	1.04×About typical	1,040	$55,022	67
Services to buildings and dwellings	63	6.1	0.90×About typical	1,255	$27,480	419
Gasoline stations	59	5.7	1.75×More than typical	311	$27,251	—

Rank places for an industry Open Daviess County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 103,787 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 $8,257 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Thruston, Kentucky: $3.20 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $8,257; −78% vs FY2025
Per resident: $3.20; US $1,994
Sole-source: 48%; US 30%
Single offer: 0.0%; 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

U.S. Coast Guard$4,36153%
Department of Veterans Affairs$3,89647%

Top recipients

WELLINGTON PARC HEALTH SYSTEMS, INC.$3,29340%
PUCKETT MACHINERY COMPANY$3,12138%
BALLARD PLUMBING SERVICE, LLC$1,20815%
SHAWS PROSTHETICS PLUS INC$6037.3%
TRADE ON DEMAND, INC.$32.530.4%

Spending by fiscal year

115.9KFY2017
36.2KFY2018
28.2KFY2019
10.1KFY2020
60KFY2021
78.1KFY2022
39.7KFY2023
48KFY2024

Top industries (NAICS)

Nursing care facilities (skilled nursing facilities) · 6231$3,29340%
Ship and boat building · 3366$3,12138%
Building equipment contractors · 2382$1,20815%
Medical equipment and supplies manufacturing · 3391$6037.3%
Nonresidential building construction · 2362$32.530.4%

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

Thruston, Kentucky's figures are part of those of Daviess County, KY ($1.3M in FY2026), never added to them: 0.6% of that total.

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

See federal money in Daviess 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.

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

House

Brett GuthrieR-KY-2 · 100% of residentsWith party 97%Missed 0.6%

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.

Daviess County53100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Owensboro, KY55

Other cities and towns in Daviess 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/2176620

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends

What changed in five years

Cities and towns like Thruston, Kentucky five years ago that improved