Kentucky
#43of 5146C
Above: Mississippi (47). Below: Alaska (45).
Pillar by pillar
Starting up
How many businesses get founded here, and what the state takes in tax.
55+0 vs median
- Business applications per 1,000 residents1.548 percentile among the 51 jurisdictionsU.S. Census Bureau
- State tax collected per resident$3,77862 percentile among the 51 jurisdictionsU.S. Census Bureau, Annual Survey of State Government Tax Collections
Population health
One comparable public-health read, asked the same way of every state.
22-28 vs median
- Adult obesity, 202437.2%18 percentile among the 51 jurisdictionsCDC, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System
- Firearm-injury deaths per 100,000 (crude)19.226 percentile among the 51 jurisdictionsCDC NCIPC, CDC NCIPC 2024
Productive base
Output per worker and how much of the job base is manufacturing.
56+5 vs median
- Output per worker$145,87520 percentile among the 51 jurisdictionsU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
- Manufacturing share of jobs12.3%92 percentile among the 51 jurisdictionsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Labour market
How tight the market is, and which way it moved last month.
45-4 vs median
- Unemployment rate4.7%22 percentile among the 51 jurisdictionsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Employment change, latest month+0.11%68 percentile among the 51 jurisdictionsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Prosperity
What the average person in the state actually earns.
7-45 vs median
- Per-capita personal income$60,6736 percentile among the 51 jurisdictionsU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
- Adults 25+ with a bachelor's degree or higher27.9%8 percentile among the 51 jurisdictionsU.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024 1-year
Housing permits and prices
Housing units authorised per 1,000 workers, and what housing costs. It counts permits issued, not buildings finished, and says nothing about industrial or infrastructure approvals.
50-8 vs median
- Housing units authorised per 1,000 workers0.538 percentile among the 51 jurisdictionsU.S. Census Bureau
- House price index (FHFA)588.462 percentile among the 51 jurisdictionsFederal Housing Finance Agency
Fiscal standing
How Moody’s rates the state as a borrower: on its general-obligation bonds or, where it has none, as an issuer.
76-16 vs median
- Credit ratingAa3 · Stable76 percentile among the 51 jurisdictionsMoody's, indicative 2025
Openness
Whether the state publishes in a form a machine can read: an open-data portal that answers; incentive, permit and finance records as data; and newsroom feeds.
56+5 vs median
- Open-data portal answers an APIYes · opengisdata.ky.gov100 percentile among the 51 jurisdictionsCEFA probe, 2026-09
- Incentive, permit & finance datasets268 percentile among the 51 jurisdictionsCEFA discovery, 2026-09
- Government or agency newsroom feeds10 percentile among the 51 jurisdictionsCEFA probe, 2026-09
Industrial project records
Companies in Kentucky named in a research file of 60 curated records, compiled October 1, 2026. Each carries the status that file gives it. None is an Applied America project. Most are foreign-owned; U.S. operators appear where the research names them as counterparties. It is not a census, and amounts are announcement scopes that are never added together.
1 record · 1 documented project
- Sev.en Global InvestmentsDocumented project
Czechia · Metallurgical coal / mineral rights · Blackhawk Mining / Golden Eagle Land
West Virginia; Kentucky — Existing assets / acquisition strategy
Group identifies U.S. metallurgical coal operations and mineral-rights holdings; profile describes further acquisition interest.
Acquisition strategy is not proof of a particular new mine or site mandate; prioritize metallurgical coal, separate thermal exposure. Contact deliverability and investment authority unverified. No open site-selection mandate confirmed.
2026-05-20Source