Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 1,761, settled in 1826.
The best of Cumberland’s subject grades are an A for safety, an A+ for the outdoors, and an A− for history; the weakest is a D− for incomes. 53% of residents live below the poverty line in Cumberland, where Kentucky’s towns sit at 16% and U.S. towns at 9.6%. On incomes, just 2 of Kentucky’s 236 towns do worse. FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 90% of U.S. communities, with inland flooding at the top. 20% of the land in Cumberland is conserved, where Kentucky’s towns sit at 1.7% and U.S. towns at 4.3%. No town in Kentucky scores higher than Cumberland on the outdoors. Cumberland is home to Southeast Kentucky Community & Technical College. Cumberland has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Cumberland beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
| Widest gap | Cumberland | KY |
|---|---|---|
| More adults facing food insecurity | 32.5% | 15.5% |
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Kentucky), ordered by how far Cumberland is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 300 in 1920, a peak of 4,271 in 1960, 1,947 in 2020. The archive holds 11 old photos and papers going back to 1880 and 3 maps from 1935 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Cumberland, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Cumberland.
The typical Cumberland home is worth about $65,000, up 6.3% in a year, 72% below the Kentucky typical home. Cumberland’s median rent is $622 a month.
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
34% of Cumberland adults say their health is fair or poor. Of the 142 Kentucky towns we compare, none has a higher share of adults who report frequent physical distress than Cumberland. 21% of Cumberland adults report frequent mental distress.
| Cumberland | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 34% | 23% | 19% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 18% | 14% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 13% | 12% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 15% | 14% |
| What stands out | Cumberland | KY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer binge drinkers | 10.9% | 14.2% |
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 83.9% | 81.3% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 32.5% | 15.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The property crime rate in Cumberland is 2.9 per 1,000 residents.
| Cumberland | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.9 per 1,000 residents | 8.3 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.1 per 1,000 residents | 1.3 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Only 6 of the 142 Kentucky towns we compare have a higher FEMA risk score than Cumberland. Since 1978, 28 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Cumberland.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The biggest place to walk is Kingdom Come State Park, 386 acres with 3.7 miles of trail. 4.6 miles of trail in 2 parks and preserves.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Kingdom Come State Park | 3.7 mi | 386 |
| 2. Community Park | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Cumberland has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. No town among the 143 in Kentucky we compare has a lower July high than Cumberland.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Most working residents leave Cumberland for work: only 10% work in town. Jobs based in Cumberland fell to 407 in 2023, 436 fewer than in 2013. Among 143 Kentucky towns, just 7 have a lower median household income than Cumberland.
| Cumberland | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $35,000 | $60,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 24 minutes | 22 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 10% | 15% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
1 within 15 miles of the center of Cumberland
About 4 of every 100 Cumberland residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Kentucky.
2,237 counted in 2010 and 1,947 in 2020; an estimated 1,761 in 2025.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
City in Kentucky, United States
Cumberland is a home rule-class city in Harlan County, Kentucky, in the United States. As of the 2020 census, Cumberland had a population of 1,947. The city sits at the confluence of Looney Creek and the Poor Fork Cumberland River.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Not for the area. That is 1.5 years of the area's median household income ($41,693 across the county). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B+.
2 notable people were born here, including Betty Siegel and Rebecca Caudill.