Fewer people are out of work in Cold Spring (2.0%) than in 85% of U.S. towns
For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 3.8 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 4.7 in Louisville. Cold Spring grades B+ for jobs and income and A− for walkability. 23% of workers work from home (Kentucky 10%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Cold Spring and work: the main findings
Cold Spring trades workers with the towns around it
Cold Spring has about as many jobs (2,947) as working residents (2,670), but they are mostly different people: 2,579 residents leave for work each day while 2,856 people come in. Only 3% of the jobs in Cold Spring are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
A lot of Cold Spring workers cross into Ohio
27% of Cold Spring workers work outside Kentucky, the Census survey finds. In the commute data, Cincinnati (16%) is one of the top workplaces. The commute map ↓
Home offices are common in Cold Spring
23% of Cold Spring workers work from home, against 10% across Kentucky. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Cold Spring
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Cold Spring is better than 75% of U.S. towns, #30 of 142 in Kentucky. Unemployment holds Cold Spring’s grade up; household income pulls it down ($75,000, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Cold Spring could be anywhere from B− to A.
Who commutes out of Cold Spring, and who commutes in
On a workday 2,579 residents head out to work, 91 work right here, and 2,856 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.10 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
16% of working residents work in Cincinnati
Where Cold Spring clocks in
16% of workers
5% of workers
5% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
A commute of about 22 minutes in Cold Spring
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Cold Spring workers work from home, vs 10% across Kentucky. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,360 commuters (the 23% who work from home are left out). Across Kentucky: 85% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
The kinds of work in Cold Spring
2,947 jobs are based in Cold Spring.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Cold Spring, 2013 → 2023: 2,756 → 2,947. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Cold Spring’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Cold Spring
About 16% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Good to walk, short on transit: Cold Spring
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Cold Spring is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns, #22 of 142 in Kentucky. Both inputs place Cold Spring near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,062 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 42% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 5% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 3.8 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 79% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 2.0% of Cold Spring households have no vehicle (Kentucky 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Cold Spring’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Cold Spring is 992nd of 3,334 U.S. towns of 4,600 to 9,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Norwood NJ | 5,817 | $178K | 2.8% | 0.9% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 67 | Union KY | 7,937 | $137K | 2.9% | 1.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 179 | Edgewood KY | 8,503 | $119K | 3.8% | 2.4% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 286 | Fort Wright KY | 6,240 | $105K | 3.0% | 3.4% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 990 | Offutt AFB NE | 6,074 | $73K | 6.6% | 2.9% | 2% | B+ |
| 991 | Summit View WA | 8,480 | $109K | 5.3% | 6.0% | 1% | B+ |
| 992 | Cold Spring KY | 6,640 | $75K | 9.9% | 2.0% | 3% | B+ |
| 993 | Rockford MI | 6,313 | $107K | 5.0% | 6.2% | 9% | B+ |
| 994 | Raymond ME | 4,670 | $88K | 5.3% | 2.2% | 7% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,334 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Cold Spring, the top three, the last and three more from Kentucky.
Around Cold Spring: the bordering towns
The biggest share goes to Alexandria (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Cold Spring workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cold Spring | – | B+ | A− | 22 min | $75,000 |
| Alexandria | 3% | A− | B− | 27 min | $102,239 |
| Highland Heights | 3% | B− | A+ | 20 min | $53,275 |
| Crestview | under 3% | — | — | 22 min | — |
| Silver Grove | under 3% | B− | C− | 24 min | $46,595 |
| Wilder | under 3% | B− | C | 20 min | $70,893 |
Same-state neighbors only. Crestview: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Cold Spring’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Cold Spring: questions
What is the median household income in Cold Spring?
$75,000 (±$8,366) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,726 across Kentucky and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Cold Spring?
9.9%, against 16.1% across Kentucky and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Cold Spring?
22 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Kentucky and 26 nationally. 23% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Cold Spring work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Cincinnati (16%, 9 mi), Florence (5%, 12 mi), Newport (5%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Cold Spring walkable?
Cold Spring is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 9.2 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Cold Spring without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 5% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Cold Spring, from the people who make the trip.
More of Cold Spring
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.