Kentucky Real Estate Information

Home of the two-minute horse race, the birth of bourbon, and the moon bow phenomenon, Kentucky has a lot to brag about. With nine regions, each with its own character and culture, Kentucky offers a variety of places to call home.

The bluegrass region of the state has more than 450 thoroughbred horse farms, dozens of caves and is home to the Buffalo Trace Distillery. Lexington, KY, in the heart of the Bluegrass Region, is the largest city in the state with a population of 268,080, although Louisville is by far the most populated metropolitan area in Kentucky with 1,025,000 in 2000 compared to Louisville's metropolitan population of 479,000 in the same year. A home in Lexington in 2005, on average, cost $142,900 in 2005, which is higher than Kentucky's average price of $103,900. Taxes on a house with a mortgage average $1,208.

Each year residents in Corbin, KY, located in the Southern Lakes region of the state, witness a meteorological phenomenon - the moon bow, a white or lunar rainbow. This phenomenon can only be seen in Corbin, KY and in Zimbabwe, Africa. Everything including a dark sky, an almost full bright moon and rain on the opposite side of the moon must be present to create a moon bow. Living near this phenomenon in Kentucky is inexpensive. The average price for a home in the City of Corbin is $62,400 and the median household income is $22,100, according to 2005 figures. Aside from waterfalls, the Southern Lakes region has more than 63,000 acres of water in which to sail, swim, and fish. All the lakes in this area are man-made by damming of major rivers.

In the Kentucky Derby region of the state is Louisville, KY, home of the Kentucky Derby, an annual two-minute race of three-year-old thoroughbred horses held at the famous Churchill Downs. Living in this exciting city is more expensive than living in Corbin, KY. The average price for a home in Louisville is $107,500.

Historically, Kentucky's Northern River region is a significant place in our nation's history. Several towns in this region were stops along the Underground Railroad, a system which hid and moved slaves out of slavery states and to lands of freedom in the middle 1800s.

The largest city in northern Kentucky is Covington. Covington is just minutes away from the Greater Cincinnati International Airport, which actually is in Kentucky, not Ohio. Homes in Covington run the gamut from $50,000 for starter homes to $1 million for luxury houses. Rental prices in 2005 ranged from $400 to $1,100 depending on the neighborhood. On average, however, homes in the area cost $91,100, according to 2005 real estate statistics. The median household income in Covington is $34,000.

The water of the Western Waterland region of Kentucky was to blame for a historic tragedy.. During the winter of 1838 more than 3,000 Cherokee Indians were migrating from Ohio to North Carolina and hundreds died after they could not cross the wide, treacherously unevenly frozen Ohio River.

Today, this part of Kentucky has become a Mecca of sorts for Kentucky water sport fanatics. The area is made up of two of the largest manmade lakes in the nation and four different rivers including the Tennessee, Ohio, Mississippi and Cumberland Rivers that flow to the area, contributing to a hotbed of water sport activities. Along with all the recreational opportunities, Paducah, a major city in the region, has a very affordable real estate market, with home prices in 2005 averaging $59,600. To spur economic development, Paducah is giving away free lots to artists who will build a home or studio in the city's arts district. For artists looking for existing space, the city is now offering 100 percent financing for purchase or rehabilitation of a space.

Kentucky Education

Kentucky's most recent high school graduation rates (for the 2004/2005 school year) were 82.84 percent. Of those graduating high school in 2004/2005, 96 percent are attending college, vocational and technical schools, are employed or have joined the military.

All school districts in the state have Internet access and all classrooms have telephone access. As of the most recent data, there is only one computer for every 15 students, but the state is working to lower the ratio to six students to one computer. One interesting statistic is that 12,000 students in the state are home schooled. Nearly 2 million students in the nation are home schooled today.

There are 76 higher education institutions in Kentucky including the University of Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky University and Western Kentucky University. Popular majors in Kentucky colleges and universities include health and allied services, visual entertainment, and the social sciences. Most of the state's colleges and university are in Louisville and Lexington.

Kentucky Population and Demographics

There are 4.2 million Kentuckians, according to 2005 population estimates. Ninety percent of the people living in the 26th largest state are white and 7.3 percent are black. On average, a total of 16 percent of Kentuckians live in poverty, which is 4 percent higher than the nation's average, according to statistics from 2003 and 2004. Personal per capita income in Kentucky is $28,513, much lower than the nation's average of $34,586. According to Morgan Quitno Press, which averages 44 different factors in its livable states index, in 2006/2007 Kentucky ranked 47th in the nation out of 50 states.