Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 1,536, settled in 1838.
Olive Hill’s best subject grades are an A+ for cost of living and an A− for schools; its weakest is a D− for health. 33% of residents are 65 or older in Olive Hill, against 17% in Kentucky’s towns and 18% across U.S. towns. On cost of living, just 7 of Kentucky’s 238 towns do better. Olive Hill is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 70% of U.S. towns. Olive Hill's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 96% of U.S. towns. Saltpeter Cave and Olive Hill C & O Depot is on the National Register of Historic Places. Olive Hill has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Olive Hill beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Olive Hill Elementary School | PK–5 | 360 |
| West Carter Middle School | 6–8 | 392 |
| West Carter County High School | 9–12 | 506 |
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Kentucky), ordered by how far Olive Hill is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 56 in 1880, a peak of 2,539 in 1980, 1,580 in 2020. The archive holds 10 old photos and papers going back to 2004 and 3 maps from 1950 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Olive Hill, 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 Olive Hill.
Among adults in Olive Hill, 30% say their health is fair or poor, and on top of that only 7 of the 142 Kentucky towns we compare have a higher share of adults who report frequent physical distress than Olive Hill. 24% of Olive Hill adults smoke cigarettes, above both Kentucky’s towns (18%) and U.S. towns (14%). CDC measures, 31 in all: Olive Hill beats Kentucky on 1 and trails on 18.
| Olive Hill | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 15% | 14% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 24% | 18% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 23% | 19% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 44% | 38% | 35% |
| What stands out | Olive Hill | KY |
|---|---|---|
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 84.3% | 81.3% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 31.7% | 18.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The largest public high school is West Carter County High School, with 506 students. Public schools: the Carter County school district. Two of its 4 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Carter Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 392 | B− |
| West Carter County High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 506 | B− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within KY on state tests and graduation
14% of Olive Hill residents are under 18. The town is shrinking: down 3% since 2020, to 1,536 residents (2025 estimate). Kentucky has 28% of adults 25 and older with a bachelor’s degree or more; here it is 23%.
| Olive Hill | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 52.4 years | 37.6 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 14% | 22% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 23% | 26% | 29% |
54% women, 46% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±5.6 points. Across Kentucky, 50.5% of residents are women. Among residents 35 to 44, 84% are men (KY 50%).
| Olive Hill | KY | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 7.6% | 12.1% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 5.9% | 10.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 4.2% | 9.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 8.7% | 13.1% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 14.9% | 12.6% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 13.7% | 12.3% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 11.7% | 13% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 25.5% | 10.5% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 7.8% | 6.8% | 7% |
| No diploma | 14.6% | 11.1% | 10.4% |
| High school | 40% | 32.6% | 26% |
| Some college | 11.7% | 19.7% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 10.9% | 9% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 8.2% | 16.2% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 14.6% | 11.3% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 1,500, single groups can be off by several points
In the year to September 2026, typical home values slipped 5.9%.
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its rate of thefts and burglaries is 9.9 per 1,000 residents. Olive Hill’s level of violent crime is 0.7 per 1,000 residents.
| Olive Hill | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.7 per 1,000 residents | 1.3 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 9.9 per 1,000 residents | 8.3 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Expect July afternoons of 86° and January nights of 23°, with about 3 inches of snow a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Just 11% of the town’s working residents have a job in town. Olive Hill’s typical journey to work comes in at 16 minutes. The share of residents in Olive Hill who live below the poverty line: 20%. It had 531 jobs in 2023, down 247 from 2013.
| Olive Hill | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 16 minutes | 22 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 20% | 16% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 11% | 15% | 8% |
| Median household income | $71,000 | $60,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
FEMA expects more storm and flood damage in Olive Hill than in 56% of U.S. communities. Flood insurance has paid out on 167 claims in the town since 1978. Households in the town have drawn federal disaster aid in 13 declared disasters, most recently in 2024.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Parks and preserves in Olive Hill: one, of 3 acres.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. J.A. Raybourne Park | — | 3 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
1 within 15 miles of the center of Olive Hill
About 4 of every 100 Olive Hill residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Kentucky.
City in Kentucky, United States
Olive Hill is a home rule-class city along Tygarts Creek in Carter County, Kentucky, in the United States. As of the 2020 census, Olive Hill had a population of 1,580.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
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+.