Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 9,851, established in 1821.
Mayfield gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $168K, 3.3 years of the Mayfield area’s $51K median household income. It grades C overall, 91st among Kentucky's 138 graded towns. The low prices come with trade-offs. Residents are less healthy than 93% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates, and FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 83% of U.S. communities, with earthquakes at the top. On the plus side, its schools outperform 82% of the state's. 27% of residents live below the poverty line in Mayfield, where Kentucky’s towns sit at 16% and U.S. towns at 9.6%. Mayfield has 7 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Wooldridge Monuments and U.S. Post Office. Among 139 Kentucky towns, just 9 have a lower median rent than Mayfield.
Where Mayfield beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Mayfield Elementary School | PK–4 | 987 |
| Graves County Central Elementary | PK–6 | 480 |
| Mayfield Middle School | 5–8 | 559 |
Census counts: 44 in 1830, 10,017 in 2020. The archive holds 5 old photos and papers going back to 1880 and 4 maps from 1952 on.
7 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Kentucky), ordered by how far Mayfield is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Mayfield, 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 Mayfield.
Mayfield pairs an A− for schools with modest home prices and draws workers from Paducah and beyond, but it carries more natural-hazard risk than most of Kentucky (mostly earthquakes).
6,541 jobs are based in Mayfield, 1.8 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. The average commute takes 16.6 minutes, against 24 across Kentucky.
About one in 3 of Mayfield’s working residents works in town. Mayfield’s average trip to work is 17 minutes. Since 2013, Mayfield has added 651 jobs, to 6,541 in 2023.
| Mayfield | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 30% | 15% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 17 minutes | 22 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $41,000 | $60,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its A− for schools comes with a B+ for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $168K.
Its public schools are run by the Graves County school district. Three of its 9 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Graves County High School, with 1,145 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mayfield Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–4 | Grades PK–4 | 987 | A− |
| Graves County High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,145 | B+ |
| Graves County Central ElementaryTop results in townGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 480 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within KY on state tests and graduation
Against the 2,659 U.S. towns with household incomes like Mayfield’s, it is less healthy than 65%, so its D isn’t only a matter of income.
10% of adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance in Mayfield. Mayfield beats the Kentucky average on 0 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 15. 80% of adults had a checkup this year in Mayfield.
| Mayfield | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 13% | 12% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 14% | 16% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 44% | 38% | 35% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 15% | 14% |
| What stands out | Mayfield | KY |
|---|---|---|
| More uninsured adults | 10.4% | 5.4% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 22.8% | 15.5% |
| More adults facing housing insecurity | 16.1% | 11.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 89% of Kentucky towns, with expected losses of about $233 per resident a year; that rating is what its D for hazard risk is built on.
Since 1983, 39 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Mayfield.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The typical Mayfield home is worth about $168,000, about the same as a year ago, 27% below the Kentucky typical home.
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
The property crime rate in Mayfield is 16 per 1,000 residents.
| Mayfield | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 16 per 1,000 residents | 8.2 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.2 per 1,000 residents | 1.3 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Mayfield has chilly winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 89°, January nights drop to 27° and about 1 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the Kentucky average. 19% of Mayfield adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more.
| Mayfield | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 19% | 26% | 29% |
| Under 18 | 24% | 22% | 22% |
| Median age | 37.5 years | 37.6 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 19% | 17% | 18% |
51% women, 49% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±2.7 points. Across Kentucky, 50.5% of residents are women.
| Mayfield | KY | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 13.9% | 12.1% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 10.2% | 10.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 7.5% | 9.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 14.9% | 13.1% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 10.1% | 12.6% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 8.8% | 12.3% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 15.8% | 13% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 9.4% | 10.5% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 9.6% | 6.8% | 7% |
| No diploma | 11.1% | 11.1% | 10.4% |
| High school | 41.5% | 32.6% | 26% |
| Some college | 18.6% | 19.7% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 9.5% | 9% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 10.2% | 16.2% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 9.1% | 11.3% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
The biggest park or preserve is Lions Club Park, at 34 acres.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Lions Club Park | — | 34 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
None within 15 miles of Mayfield; the nearest are
About 2 of every 100 Mayfield residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Kentucky.
Where Mayfield’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
19 notable people were born in Mayfield.
City in Kentucky, United States
Mayfield is a home rule–class city and the county seat of Graves County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 10,017 as of the 2020 United States Census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Mayfield grades C overall, better than 30% of U.S. towns and #91 of 138 in Kentucky. It grades D for health, C for safety and A− 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+.
19 notable people were born here, including David Boaz and James Luther Slayden.