Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 6,776, settled in 1856.
Morehead is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades C+ overall, better than 42% of U.S. towns, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is cost of living: a typical home costs about $189K, 3.5 years of the county’s $54K median household income. Its lowest everyday mark is in incomes: the median household income is $37K, and 38% of residents live below the poverty line. Morehead is a college campus (most residents are students), so it isn’t ranked among Kentucky’s towns. 38% of residents live below the poverty line in Morehead, where Kentucky’s towns sit at 16% and U.S. towns at 9.6%. On walkability, just 7 of Kentucky’s 237 towns do better. Morehead is home to Morehead State University.
Where Morehead beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Kentucky), ordered by how far Morehead is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 163 in 1880, 7,151 in 2020. The archive holds 11 old photos and papers going back to 1899 and 3 maps from 1935 on.
6 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Morehead, 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 Morehead.
Morehead is shaped by its college students, draws workers from Lexington and beyond and is safe by national standards but not by Kentucky’s.
50.3% of residents are enrolled in college, against 5.5% statewide, which pulls the median age down. The median household earns $36,741, against $63,726 across Kentucky, one input to its C− for jobs and income.
Morehead’s median age is 22 years. Among 142 Kentucky towns, just 2 have a lower share of children under 18 than Morehead. 7.7% of residents are 65 or older in Morehead.
| Morehead | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 22 years | 37.6 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 13% | 22% | 22% |
| Aged 65 or older | 7.7% | 17% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 30% | 26% | 29% |
52% women, 48% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±3.1 points. Across Kentucky, 50.5% of residents are women. Median age: women 21.6, men 22.3.
| Morehead | KY | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 5.9% | 12.1% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 6.7% | 10.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 50.9% | 9.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 9.4% | 13.1% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 8.6% | 12.6% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 5.9% | 12.3% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 4.9% | 13% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 4.3% | 10.5% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 3.4% | 6.8% | 7% |
| No diploma | 13.7% | 11.1% | 10.4% |
| High school | 30.4% | 32.6% | 26% |
| Some college | 23.1% | 19.7% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 2.8% | 9% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 14% | 16.2% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 16% | 11.3% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Its public schools are run by the Rowan County school district. Two of its 9 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Rowan County Senior High School, with 904 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rowan County Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 695 | B+ |
| Rowan County Senior High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 904 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within KY on state tests and graduation
8.5 miles of trail in 7 parks and preserves. The trail density in Morehead is 0.9 miles per square mile. The biggest park or preserve is Don Greenhill Park, at 33 acres.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Rodburn Hollow Park | 0.7 mi | 24 |
| 2. Morehead Memorial Tree Walk | 0.4 mi | 20 |
| 3. Don Greenhill Park | 0.1 mi | 33 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
7,179 jobs are based in Morehead, 3.5 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
About one in 3 of Morehead’s working residents works in town. Among 142 Kentucky towns, just 9 have a lower median household income than Morehead. Jobs based in Morehead grew to 7,179 in 2023, 346 more than in 2013.
| Morehead | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 32% | 15% | 8% |
| Median household income | $37,000 | $60,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 19 minutes | 22 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
January nights average 24.1°: milder than most of the country, but colder than 81% of Kentucky places with climate records; July afternoons average 86.7°.
Morehead has chilly winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. About 7 inches of snow falls in a winter.
| Morehead | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 87°F | 87°F | 85°F |
| January low | 24°F | 25°F | 22°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
150 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 35 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 66% of U.S. communities. Since 1989, 150 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Morehead.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
58.3% of renter households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, against 45.4% across Kentucky.
33% of Morehead households own their home. The typical Morehead home is worth about $189,000, down 1.6% in a year, 18% below the Kentucky typical home.
| Morehead | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 33% | 59% | 73% |
| Median rent | $800 a month | $937 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
At 22.5 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 74% of Kentucky’s graded towns. Reported crimes fell from 151 to 96 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Against the 1,573 U.S. towns with household incomes like Morehead’s, it is healthier than 94%, so its B− isn’t only a matter of income.
Morehead beats the Kentucky average on 9 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 5. Of the 141 Kentucky towns we compare, none has a higher share of adults who report frequent mental distress than Morehead.
| Morehead | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 18% | 17% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 34% | 27% | 23% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 38% | 35% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 8.9% | 13% | 12% |
| What stands out | Morehead | KY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 5.3% | 8.7% |
| Fewer adults with diabetes | 8.9% | 13.7% |
| More adults in frequent mental distress | 24.7% | 17.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
1 within 15 miles of the center of Morehead
College town 50 of every 100 Morehead residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Kentucky.
Where Morehead’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
6 places in Morehead on the National Register of Historic Places.
5 notable people were born in Morehead.
City in Kentucky, United States
Morehead is a home rule-class city located along US 60 (the historic Midland Trail) and Interstate 64 in Rowan County, Kentucky, in the United States. It is the seat of its county. The population was 7,151 at the time of the 2020 U.S. census. It was the focal point of the Rowan County War and is the home of Morehead State University.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Morehead grades C+ overall, better than 42% of U.S. towns. Morehead is a college campus (most residents are students), so it isn’t ranked among Kentucky’s towns. It grades B− for health, C+ for safety and B for schools. Jobs & income is its weak spot, with a C−.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B.
5 notable people were born here, including Bryan Hines and Kim Davis.
