Laurel County vs Pulaski County

A side-by-side comparison of Laurel County and Pulaski County: population, income, housing, and more.

Laurel County and Pulaski County are counties in Kentucky. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Pulaski County has the higher population (65,503 vs 62,731 in Laurel County). Laurel County has the higher median household income ($56,999 vs $50,943 in Pulaski County). Pulaski County has the higher median home value ($156,300 vs $143,400 in Laurel County).

Population, income & housing

	Laurel County	Pulaski County
Population	62,731	65,503
Median age	39.9 yrs	42.2 yrs
Median household income	$56,999	$50,943
Median home value	$143,400	$156,300
Median gross rent	$789	$835
Housing units	26,705	31,673
Homeownership rate	71.5%	71.9%
Bachelor's degree or higher	16.5%	17.9%
Unemployment rate	3.6%	5.2%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Laurel County	Pulaski County
Population	60,357 → 62,731 (+3.9%)	64,350 → 65,503 (+1.8%)
Median household income	$41,526 → $56,999 (+37.3%)	$39,998 → $50,943 (+27.4%)
Median home value	$112,000 → $143,400 (+28.0%)	$116,200 → $156,300 (+34.5%)
Median gross rent	$651 → $789 (+21.2%)	$682 → $835 (+22.4%)

Laurel County

Population

60,35762,731

Median household income

$41,526$56,999

Median home value

$112,000$143,400

Median gross rent

$651$789

Pulaski County

Population

64,35065,503

Median household income

$39,998$50,943

Median home value

$116,200$156,300

Median gross rent

$682$835

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Laurel County	Pulaski County
Under 5	5.9%	5.7%
5 to 17	17.0%	16.4%
18 to 24	7.8%	7.1%
25 to 34	13.1%	11.9%
35 to 44	13.1%	12.4%
45 to 54	13.2%	13.0%
55 to 64	13.3%	14.2%
65 to 74	10.4%	11.6%
75 and over	6.4%	7.7%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Laurel County	Pulaski County
White (non-Hispanic)	95.1%	92.7%
Black or African American	0.5%	0.9%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.1%
Asian	0.3%	0.8%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.2%	0.0%
Some other race	0.1%	0.2%
Two or more races	2.1%	2.4%
Hispanic or Latino	1.7%	3.0%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Laurel County	Pulaski County
No high school diploma	16.9%	15.1%
High school graduate	39.5%	35.5%
Some college or associate's	27.1%	31.5%
Bachelor's degree	9.1%	9.8%
Graduate or professional degree	7.5%	8.1%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Laurel County	Pulaski County
Drove alone	77.3%	82.6%
Carpooled	13.1%	10.6%
Public transit	0.2%	0.2%
Walked	1.0%	1.0%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	7.3%	4.9%
Other means	1.1%	0.6%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Laurel County	Pulaski County
1-unit, detached	61.2%	67.9%
1-unit, attached	0.6%	2.0%
2 to 4 units	6.3%	7.9%
5 to 19 units	4.4%	3.5%
20 or more units	0.7%	0.7%
Mobile home & other	26.8%	18.1%

Poverty & households

	Laurel County	Pulaski County
Poverty rate	21.3%	20.3%
Average household size	2.58	2.49
Mean commute (minutes)	23	24
Median year structure built	1991	1986