Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Florence grades B overall, ranked 47th of 138 in Kentucky, with clear strengths and some subjects that lag. Its public schools beat 92% of Kentucky towns on state tests and graduation and natural-hazard risk is low. On the other side, its police reported 65 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025, a higher rate per resident than 84% of U.S. towns. Florence is home to Gateway Community and Technical College. Among 142 Kentucky towns, just 2 have a lower July high than Florence. Florence has 6 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Hopeful Lutheran Church and John Delehunty House.
Where Florence beats most towns.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Ockerman Elementary School | PK–5 | 777 |
| Erpenbeck Elementary School | PK–5 | 764 |
| Florence Elementary School | PK–5 | 610 |
Census counts: 62 in 1830, a low of 62 in 1830, 31,946 in 2020. The archive holds 16 old photos and papers going back to 1866.
6 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Kentucky), ordered by how far Florence is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Florence. Close and well known come first.
Big draw26 mi Theme parkArk Encounter
10 mi Stadium & arenaPaycor Stadium
10 mi Stadium & arenaGreat American Ball Park
Big draw31 mi Theme parkKings Island3.5M visitors a year
10 mi MuseumCreation Museum1.2M visitors a year
12 mi Stadium & arenaNippert StadiumArk Encounter: OlinEJ, CC0 · Paycor Stadium: JonRidinger, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Great American Ball Park: Eric Kilby profile at Flickr website, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Kings Island: Eli Duke from Portland, OR, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Creation Museum: Creashin at English Wikipedia, Public domain · Nippert Stadium: Ben Levin, CC BY-SA 4.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Florence, 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 Florence.
Florence carries less natural-hazard risk than nearly all of Kentucky (mostly cold waves), draws workers from Cincinnati and beyond and looks healthier within Kentucky than nationally.
32,491 jobs are based in Florence, 2.1 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
Most working residents leave Florence for work: only 17% work in town. Since 2013, Florence has added 5,649 jobs, to 32,491 in 2023. 9.5% of residents live below the poverty line in Florence, below Kentucky’s towns (16%) and close to U.S. towns (9.6%).
| Florence | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 17% | 15% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 9.5% | 16% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 23 minutes | 22 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $71,000 | $59,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its public schools are run by the Boone County school district. Three of its 12 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ockerman Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 777 | C+ |
| Boone County High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,252 | C |
| Erpenbeck Elementary SchoolTop results in townGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 764 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within KY on state tests and graduation
Reported crimes fell from 1,495 to 864 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
At 23.4 per 1,000 residents, Florence’s property crime rate is where Kentucky’s towns sit at 8.2 and U.S. towns at 9.9. Florence reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 84% report less.
| Florence | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 23.4 per 1,000 residents | 8.2 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.9 per 1,000 residents | 1.3 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk lower than 96% of Kentucky towns, with expected losses of about $200 per resident a year; that rating is what its A− for hazard risk is built on.
Florence’s FEMA risk score is 16 of 100. Since 2009, 2 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Florence.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The typical Florence home is worth about $288,000, up 0.7% in a year, 25% above the Kentucky typical home. The median rent in Florence is $1,329 a month.
| Florence | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 58% | 59% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,329 a month | $930 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
3.7 miles of trail in 9 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is South Fork Park, at 46 acres.
| Florence | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 1.6% | 1.8% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.3 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Stringtown Park | 0.3 mi | 8 |
| 2. South Fork Park | 0.1 mi | 46 |
| 3. UC Health Stadium | — | 35 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Florence has chilly winters and warm summers. Among 142 Kentucky towns, just 5 have a lower January low than Florence.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the Kentucky average. Florence has grown 6.4% since 2020, to 34,018 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. 26% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 28% across Kentucky.
| Florence | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 20% | 17% | 18% |
| Under 18 | 21% | 22% | 22% |
| Median age | 38.9 years | 37.6 years | 40.5 years |
51% women, 49% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±1.7 points. Across Kentucky, 50.5% of residents are women.
| Florence | KY | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 11.1% | 12.1% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 9.6% | 10.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 8.8% | 9.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 15.2% | 13.1% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.2% | 12.6% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 11.6% | 12.3% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 11.9% | 13% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 10.9% | 10.5% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 8.7% | 6.8% | 7% |
| No diploma | 9.2% | 11.1% | 10.4% |
| High school | 33.2% | 32.6% | 26% |
| Some college | 22.1% | 19.7% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 9.1% | 9% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 17.5% | 16.2% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 8.9% | 11.3% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Within Kentucky it is healthier than 66% of the 141 graded towns: much of Kentucky scores lower on these measures. All 3 graded neighbors score healthier than its B−, from Erlanger (B) to Union (A−).
Florence beats the Kentucky average on 4 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 40% of Florence adults have obesity.
| Florence | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 39% | 35% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 18% | 14% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 27% | 23% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 18% | 17% |
| What stands out | Florence | KY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults with COPD | 8.7% | 10.2% |
| Fewer smokers | 15.9% | 18.5% |
| More uninsured adults | 6.9% | 5.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
12 within 15 miles of the center of Florence
About 4 of every 100 Florence residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Kentucky.
2 colleges in town.
6 places in Florence on the National Register of Historic Places.
4 notable people were born in Florence.
City in Kentucky, United States
Florence is a city in Boone County, Kentucky, United States, part of the Cincinnati metropolitan area. The population was 31,946 at the 2020 census, making it the second-most populous city in Northern Kentucky, the eighth-most populous city in Kentucky and the state's most populous that is not a county seat. Like all but the state's two most populous cities, Florence is a home rule-class city under Kentucky state law.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Florence.
All 3 graded towns on its borders grade higher than its B; Union (A−) is closest.
| Town | KY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Florence | #47 | B | B | C− | A | B− |
| Union | #25 | A− | C− | — | A | A− |
| Oakbrook | #20 | A | B− | — | A | B |
| Erlanger | #9 | A+ | A− | A− | A− | B |
Union and Oakbrook report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Florence with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Florence grades B overall, better than 61% of U.S. towns and #47 of 138 in Kentucky. It grades B− for health, C− for safety and A for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a C−.
That is 3.5 years of the area's median household income ($81,120 across the Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B.
4 notable people were born here, including Curtis Gates Lloyd and Shaun Alexander.
