Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town with more to fix than most. Its weakest subject is health — residents are less healthy than 95% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. Where it does best is cost of living (B+): a typical home costs about $193K, 2.8 years of the Clarksville metro’s $69K median household income. Put together, the subjects come to a D overall, ranking 135th of 138 in Kentucky. That leaves it better than 5% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings include Church Hill Grange Hall and Hopkinsville L & N Railroad Depot. Nearly three fifths of working residents work locally here, above both Kentucky’s towns (15%) and U.S. towns (8%). Only 6 of the 115 Kentucky towns we compare have a higher violent crime rate than Hopkinsville.
Figures: home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · health, CDC PLACES · National Register of Historic Places · Census LEHD, 2023 · FBI crime data, 2025.
Where Hopkinsville beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Hopkinsville L & N Railroad Depot| Widest gap | Hopkinsville | KY |
|---|---|---|
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 14.4% | 8.8% |
Census counts: 131 in 1810, 31,180 in 2020. The archive holds 11 old photos and papers going back to 1825 and 3 maps from 1951 on.
32 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Kentucky), ordered by how far Hopkinsville is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Hopkinsville, 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 Hopkinsville.
Hopkinsville draws workers from Clarksville and beyond and has homes that are cheap against local pay, but it carries more natural-hazard risk than most of Kentucky (mostly inland flooding).
In Hopkinsville, just over a fifth of adults smoke cigarettes. Only 5 of the 141 Kentucky towns we compare have a higher share of adults who have diabetes than Hopkinsville.
| Hopkinsville | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 13% | 12% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 45% | 38% | 35% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 18% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 15% | 14% |
| What stands out | Hopkinsville | KY |
|---|---|---|
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 14.4% | 8.8% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 24.9% | 15.5% |
| More adults facing housing insecurity | 18.7% | 11.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Public schools: the Christian County school district. Of its 18 schools, two are listed below, each with the reason. The 5 public schools in Hopkinsville teach 3,374 students between them.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Christian County Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 845 | C+ |
| Christian County High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,153 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within KY on state tests and graduation
20,070 jobs are based in Hopkinsville, 1.7 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
Half of commuters travel less than 5 miles. The share of residents in Hopkinsville who live below the poverty line: 19%. The top destinations are Clarksville (3%), Nashville (2%) and Oak Grove (2%). The typical household income for Hopkinsville comes to $49,000.
| Hopkinsville | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 19% | 16% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 4.1% | 10% | 11% |
| Median household income | $49,000 | $60,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 22 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Reported crimes fell from 1,072 to 736 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Hopkinsville’s property crime rate stands at 21 per 1,000 residents. In Hopkinsville, the violent crime rate is 3 per 1,000 residents.
| Hopkinsville | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 21 per 1,000 residents | 8.2 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 3 per 1,000 residents | 1.3 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 88% of Kentucky towns, with expected losses of about $718 per resident a year; that rating is what its D for hazard risk is built on. 814 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 89 properties have flooded more than once.
Federal disaster aid has reached households in Hopkinsville after 10 declared disasters, most recently in 2025. Its FEMA hazard score comes in at 81 of 100. The national flood insurance program has paid 814 claims here since 1978. Expected losses in Hopkinsville break down as 40% from inland flooding and 32% from earthquakes.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
At 2.8 years of the Clarksville metro’s $69K median household income, the typical home (about $193K) costs less against local pay than in 79% of Kentucky towns; that ratio is one input to that grade. Home values rose 44% in five years, to about $193K, against 25% across Kentucky.
47% of households are owner-occupiers in Hopkinsville. Zillow values the typical Hopkinsville home at about $193,000, up 1.2% in a year, 16% below the Kentucky typical home. Homes sold in Hopkinsville spent a median 73 days on the market.
| Hopkinsville | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 47% | 59% | 73% |
| Median rent | $902 a month | $937 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Only 47% of households own their home, against 68.3% across Kentucky.
25% of Hopkinsville residents are under 18. Adults 35 to 64 are 33% of residents (38% statewide). In Hopkinsville, the median age is 34.6 years. The town is shrinking: down 2.4% since 2020, to 30,411 residents (2025 estimate).
| Hopkinsville | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 34.6 years | 37.6 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 25% | 22% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 23% | 26% | 29% |
| Aged 65 or older | 16% | 17% | 18% |
51% women, 49% men
About 94 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±1.2 points). Across Kentucky, 50.5% of residents are women. Median age: women 37.9, men 32.2.
| Hopkinsville | KY | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 14.9% | 12.1% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 10.3% | 10.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 11.5% | 9.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 14.2% | 13.1% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 11.1% | 12.6% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 9.9% | 12.3% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 11.7% | 13% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 8.6% | 10.5% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 7.8% | 6.8% | 7% |
| No diploma | 12.9% | 11.1% | 10.4% |
| High school | 32.2% | 32.6% | 26% |
| Some college | 21.2% | 19.7% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 10.5% | 9% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 15.3% | 16.2% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 8% | 11.3% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
The biggest park or preserve is Western Hills Municipal Golf Course, at 185 acres. 2.9 miles of trail wind through 3 parks and preserves. Also worth knowing: for Hopkinsville, the trail density is 0.1 miles per square mile.
| Hopkinsville | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 1.1% | 1.8% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Western Hills Municipal Golf Course | — | 185 |
| 2. Ruff Park | — | 28 |
| 3. Gander Memorial Park | — | 13 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
1 within 15 miles of the center of Hopkinsville
About 4 of every 100 Hopkinsville residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Kentucky.
32 places in Hopkinsville on the National Register of Historic Places.
35 notable people were born in Hopkinsville.
City in Kentucky, United States
Hopkinsville is a city in and the county seat of Christian County, Kentucky, United States. The population at the 2020 census was 31,180. Hopkinsville is a home-rule class city under Kentucky law.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Hopkinsville.
| Town | KY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hopkinsville | #135 | D | B+ | C− | C | D |
| Pembroke | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Pembroke isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Hopkinsville with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Hopkinsville grades D overall, better than 5% of U.S. towns and #135 of 138 in Kentucky. It grades D for health, C− for safety and C for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a D.
Not for the 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+.
35 notable people were born here, including bell hooks and Ed Whitfield.
