Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Mount Sterling gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $218K, 4 years of the Mount Sterling area’s $55K median household income. It grades C overall, 78th of 138 graded towns in Kentucky. The low prices come with trade-offs. CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 92% of the country. History is its standout character grade: an A+, better than 95% of U.S. towns, with 17 places on the National Register. Mount Sterling’s trail density is 1.2 miles per square mile, against 0.3 in Kentucky’s towns and 0.4 across U.S. towns. Its National Register listings include Church of the Ascension and KEAS Tabernacle Christian Methodist Episcopal Church. Mount Sterling's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 82% of U.S. towns.
Where Mount Sterling beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Census counts: 83 in 1800, 7,558 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1811 and 3 maps from 1952 on.
14 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Kentucky), ordered by how far Mount Sterling is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Mount Sterling, 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 Mount Sterling.
Mount Sterling trades lower home prices for longer drives to work, draws workers from Lexington and beyond and is safe by national standards but not by Kentucky’s.
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Montgomery County school district. Its two schools are below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mapleton Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 524 | B+ |
| Gateway Children's ServicesLargest public high schoolGrades 5–12 | Grades 5–12 | 17 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within KY on state tests and graduation
4,598 jobs are based in Mount Sterling, 1.5 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
Most working residents leave Mount Sterling for work: only 16% work in town. 17% of residents live below the poverty line in Mount Sterling, close to Kentucky’s towns (16%) and above U.S. towns (9.6%). Since 2013, Mount Sterling has lost 304 jobs, to 4,598 in 2023.
| Mount Sterling | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 17% | 16% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 7.5% | 10% | 11% |
| Working residents who work in town | 16% | 15% | 8% |
| Median household income | $56,000 | $60,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
22% of adults smoke cigarettes in Mount Sterling. Mount Sterling beats the Kentucky average on 0 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 10. 17% of adults report frequent physical distress in Mount Sterling.
| Mount Sterling | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 18% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 15% | 14% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 43% | 39% | 35% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 27% | 23% |
| What stands out | Mount Sterling | KY |
|---|---|---|
| More uninsured adults | 7.7% | 5.4% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 23.2% | 18.9% |
| More smokers | 22.2% | 18.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 78% of U.S. communities. Since 1989, 44 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Mount Sterling.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
January nights average 24.4°: milder than most of the country, but colder than 77% of Kentucky places with climate records; July afternoons average 86.5°.
Mount Sterling has chilly winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. About 9 inches of snow falls in a winter.
| Mount Sterling | 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
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the Kentucky average. 15% of Mount Sterling residents are 65 or older. 24% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 28% across Kentucky.
| Mount Sterling | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 15% | 17% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 24% | 26% | 29% |
| Median age | 37.8 years | 37.6 years | 40.5 years |
52% women, 48% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±3.5 points. Across Kentucky, 50.5% of residents are women.
| Mount Sterling | KY | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 11.3% | 12.1% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 10.7% | 10.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 8.9% | 9.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 16.2% | 13.1% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 16.3% | 12.6% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 9.8% | 12.3% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 12% | 13% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 8.5% | 10.5% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 6.2% | 6.8% | 7% |
| No diploma | 11.1% | 11.1% | 10.4% |
| High school | 37.1% | 32.6% | 26% |
| Some college | 23.9% | 19.7% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 4.2% | 9% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 14.6% | 16.2% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 9% | 11.3% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Homes are within reach (about $218K for the typical one, A− for cost of living), but half of working residents commute more than 25 miles.
Mount Sterling’s median rent is $699 a month. The typical Mount Sterling home is worth about $218,000, up 3.1% in a year, 6% below the Kentucky typical home.
| Mount Sterling | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 52% | 59% | 73% |
| Median rent | $699 a month | $937 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
At 20.4 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 68% of Kentucky’s graded towns.
The property crime rate in Mount Sterling is 13.2 per 1,000 residents.
| Mount Sterling | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 13.2 per 1,000 residents | 8.2 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.8 per 1,000 residents | 1.3 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
None within 15 miles of Mount Sterling; the nearest are
About 3 of every 100 Mount Sterling residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Kentucky.
Where Mount Sterling’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
14 places in Mount Sterling on the National Register of Historic Places.
14 notable people were born in Mount Sterling.
City in Kentucky, United States
Mount Sterling, often written as Mt. Sterling, is a home rule-class city in Montgomery County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 7,558 as of the 2020 census, up from 6,895 in 2010. It is the county seat of Montgomery County and the principal city of the Mount Sterling micropolitan area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Mount Sterling grades C overall, better than 35% of U.S. towns and #78 of 138 in Kentucky. It grades D for health, B− for safety and B− 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 A−.
14 notable people were born here, including Ernie Fletcher and John Stuart Williams.
