Jacob Munoz

A "for rent" sign outside of an apartment building in Louisville's Highlands-Douglass neighborhood.

Organizers for the 120th Kentucky State Fair have themed this year's event around celebrating all 120 counties. A local data expert shares how people move in and around those counties, and if he thinks that number could change.

Danville commissioner Rick Serres talks with fairgoers at the Kentucky State Fair's Pride of the Counties exhibit on August 20, 2024. He represented Boyle County, one of more than 100 state counties with representatives at this year's event.

Republished from WEKU. At this year’s Kentucky State Fair, representatives of more than 100 counties are making their pitch to fairgoers on why they should pay a visit to their communities. Catching sight of them all is no easy feat: Kentucky has the third-most counties in the U.S., behind only Texas and Georgia — fourth if counting Virginia’s independent cities. That large number of counties leads to smaller populations in each, and it can be tricky for data analysis. That’s according to Matt Ruther, director of the Kentucky State Data Center, which is part of the University of Louisville. The agency is affiliated with the U.S. Census Bureau and uses its data to present findings for local and statewide groups. Those include Kentucky’s Legislative Research Commission and the state’s 15 Area Development Districts, like KIPDA, which handles Louisville and surrounding counties. Ruther spoke with LPM News’ Jacob Munoz about how the 120 counties tie into his work. This conversation has been edited for clarity and length. I want to talk about a report that the agency put out in 2022, which found that while Kentucky is expected to grow by more than 6% by 2050, a majority of counties in Kentucky will actually lose population. Can you tell me about the takeaways from that report? Already, many of our counties are shedding people. Not quite half, but almost half. And this is primarily related to jobs. People tend to move from rural areas, or even small cities, to larger areas [where] there [are] more opportunities. So we’re seeing growth in, you know, the big cities: Lexington, Louisville, Bowling Green, [and] especially northern Kentucky, for Cincinnati. And a lot of that growth is at the expense of other counties within the state. So the smaller counties, usually. Courtesy Matt Ruther /... Continue Reading

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