51 Kentucky Business Stats & Facts For 2025

Here are 51 business stats about Kentucky for 2025.

Basics:

Population: 4,526,154 (US Census 2020)
Population desnity per square mile: 114.10
GDP: $277,747 (millions USD)
GDP Per Capita: $61,961
Median household income (in 2022 dollars): $60,183
Real GDP Growth Rate: 3.50%
Total Employment: 1.9m
Unemployment Rate: 4.1%

Rankings

% Share of National Economy: 1.01%
State Economic Growth Rank (out of 50): 28
Population Growth Rank (out of 50): 37
Business Growth Rank (out of 50): 32
State Growth Rank in Employment (out of 50): 9

Biggest Industries In Kentucky By Revenue

1. Health & Medical Insurance: $42.8b
2. Automobile & Light Duty Motor Vehicle Manufacturing: $29.3b
3. Automobile Wholesaling: $25.3b
4. Hospitals: $20.6b
5. Gasoline & Petroleum Bulk Stations: $16.6b
6. Chemical Wholesaling: $12.6b
7. New Car Dealers: $12.4b
8. Gas Stations with Convenience Stores: $11.2b
9. Warehouse Clubs & Supercenters: $11.1b
10. Drug, Cosmetic & Toiletry Wholesaling: $10.9b

Biggest Employers In Kentucky

1. State of Kentucky: 72,416 (3.7%)
2. Walmart Inc.: 30,464 (1.6%)
3. United Parcel Service, Inc.: 29,000 (1.5%)
4. Amazon.Com, Inc.: 23,000 (1.2%)
5. Norton Healthcare: 20,000 (1.0%)
6. The Kroger Co.: 19,391 (1.0%)
7. Humana Inc.: 16,693 (0.9%)
8. University Of Kentucky: 14,000 (0.7%)
9. University of Louisville Health: 13,000 (0.7%)
10. Ford Motor Co: 9,251 (0.5%)

Small Businesses In Kentucky

Number of Small Businesses 363,068
Percent of bossiness that are small businesses: 99.30%
Number of employees: 706,644
Share of Employment: 42.40%
Number of New Businesses In The Past Year: 15,242
Number of Businesses That Closed In The Past Year: 9,764
Net Change In New Businesses: 5,478

Number of Businesses With No Employees: 298,841
Number of Businesses with 1-19 Employees: 55,524
Number of Businesses with 20-499 Employees: 8,703
Share of Businesses Owned By Women: 41.50%
Share of Businesses Owned By Veterans: 7.50%
Share of Hispanic Owned Businesses: 3.30%
Share of Businesses Owned By Racial Minorities: 8.40%

Fortune 500 Companies In Kentucky

Number of Fortune 500 Headquaters: 1
Biggest Company: Humana
Biggest Company Type: Health Care: Insurance and Managed Care
Number of Employees: 67,100
Revenue (in millions): $92,870

Taxes In Kentucky

State Corporate Tax Rate: 5.00%
State Corporate Tax Rate Brackets: $0

State Sales Tax Rate: 6.00%
State Sales Tax Rank (out of 50): 17
Average Local Sales Tax Rate: 0.00%
Max Local Sales Tax Rate: 0.00%
Average Combined Sales Tax Rate: 6.00%
Combined Sales Tax Rank (out of 50): 38

Minimum State Income Tax Rate If You’re Single: 4.00%
Minimum State Income Tax Rate If You’re Married: 4.00%

General Kentucky Population Facts

In civilian labor force, total, percent of population age 16 years+: 59.20%
In civilian labor force, female, percent of population age 16 years+: 55.20%
Share of population which is foreign born: 4.10%
Mean travel time to work (minutes), workers age 16 years+: 23.9

Housing

Number of Housing Units: 2,036,728
Owner-occupied housing unit rate: 68.10%
Median value of owner-occupied housing units: $177,000
Median gross rent per month: $902
Households with a computer: 91.60%
Households with a broadband Internet subscription: 85.60%

Education

High school graduate or higher, percent of persons age 25 years+: 88.20%
Bachelor’s degree or higher, percent of persons age 25 years+: 26.50%

Also See

• Kentucky Registered Agent Services
• Kentucky Secretary of State Business Search
• How To Form an LLC In Kentucky
• Kentucky Bookkeepers & Bookkeeping Services

Sources

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_and_territories_by_GDP
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Kentucky
• https://www.ibisworld.com/united-states/economic-profiles/kentucky/
• https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/state/2024-sales-taxes/
• https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/state/state-corporate-income-tax-rates-brackets-2024/
• https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/state/state-income-tax-rates-2024/
• https://advocacy.sba.gov/2023/11/14/2023-small-business-profiles-for-the-states-territories-and-nation/
• https://advocacy.sba.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/2023-Small-Business-Economic-Profile-KY.pdf
• https://www.bls.gov/eag/
• https://www.bls.gov/regions/southeast/kentucky.htm#eag
• https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/KY,US/PST045223
• https://www.50pros.com/fortune500