County profile
Carter County, KY
United States · GDP 2024
#2186 of 3,127 US counties by GDP36th-percentile growthmore diversified than 68% of counties
EA Place Score
——methodology in progress
GDP 2024 (USD)
$670.6M
BEA · 2024
GDP growth (YoY)
+3.0%
BEA · 2024
Jobs tracked
5,029
Census CBP · 2023
Employers
389
Census CBP · 2023
Avg. wage
$40.1k
BLS QCEW · 2023
Population
26,149
Census PEP · 2025
Labor, income & education
Unemployment
8.1%
Median HH income
$51.2k±$4.1k
Bachelor's degree+
15.9%±2.7%
Poverty rate
19.2%±2.8%
Business applications
237 · 2025
Retail establishments
104
39.7/10k pop
Public companies headquartered here
SEC EDGAR · FMPCompanySectorRevenueEA
No public companies loaded for this state yet — universe expands with the full ingest.
HQ-based placement with total (global) headcount — local employment attribution needs firmographic data; the industry mix at right is measured county data (CBP).
Industry mix · employment
Retail trade26%
Manufacturing22%
Food & accommodation18%
Health care14%
Information11%
Construction9%
share of top-6 sector employment · CBP 2023
Population & migration
Census PEP · 2020–2025
26,149
residents · 2025 · -1.7% since 2020
Income per capita $43.5k · BEA 2024
COMPONENTS OF CHANGE · 2021–2025
Domestic migration+369
International migration+23
Natural change−860
GDP trend
2019–2024 · nominal
$515.2M2019
$534.1M2020
$556.8M2021
$596.7M2022
$651.3M2023
$670.6M2024
Real estate & risk
FHFA · ACS · FEMA
Median home value
$132.8k±$16.5k
Median gross rent
$740/mo±$65/mo
Vacancy rate
12.4%±2.4%
Affordability
3.3× wages
Residential permits
$521.0k
3 units · 0.1/1k pop
FEMA risk score
52.7
HUD Fair Market Rent (2BR):$866/mo · 2026
TOP PERILS · FEMA NRI
Landslide 90Heat wave 86Ice storm 59
FHFA HOUSE PRICE INDEX · 2016–2025
1532016
1652017
1652018
1782019
1802020
1852021
2202022
2212023
2352024
2362025
RESIDENTIAL PERMITS · 2021–2025
↓ -67% since 202192021
02022
12023
12024
32025
Transport access
BTS · FAA · USACE
Nearest interstate
0.8 km
I-64
Nearest freight rail
24.9 km
CSXT
Nearest port
34.4 km
DEBBIE JO DOCK INC
Nearest commercial airport
43.0 km
TRI-STATE/MILTON J FERGUSON FLD
Wage trend
BLS QCEW · 2019–2023$40.1k
avg. annual pay · +20% since 2019
Similar US counties
nearest by GDPNearby & same-state counties
by GDP rankThe read
What is the GDP of Carter?
Carter's economy produced $670.6M in 2024, growing 3.0% year over year — slower than 64% of US counties. Its largest employment sector is retail trade.
GDP: BEA (2024), USD-normalized · Jobs/employers/wages & industry mix: Census CBP (2023) · Population & migration: Census PEP · Income: BEA CAINC1 · Companies: SEC EDGAR + FMP, by HQ.