PhelpsKY
A town of 301, settled in 1889.
Is Phelps a good place to live?
Phelps has fewer than 1,000 residents, too few for fair grades; the figures below are still real.
301 people, and everyone knows the way
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
Moving to Phelps: who provides what
Phelps is unincorporated, so Pike County and regional agencies provide most services.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Phelps.
Phelps’ typical home value is about $67K
In Phelps, 57% of households live in a home they own. Values fell 12% in the year to September 2026.
Typical home value
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
The schools Phelps’s kids attend
The public schools here belong to the Pike County school district. Its two schools are below. The 2 public schools in Phelps teach 532 students between them.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phelps Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 293 | B |
| Phelps High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 7–12 | Grades 7–12 | 239 | D |
NCES · EDFacts
Compared with most of Kentucky and the rest of the country, the FEMA risk score in Phelps is higher
87% of Phelps’s expected losses from natural hazards come from inland flooding. Federal disaster aid has reached households in Phelps after 8 declared disasters, most recently in 2025. Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 96% of U.S. communities.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Phelps has 0.4 jobs per working resident, so most workers leave town for work
Among 143 Kentucky towns, just 5 have a higher share of residents below the poverty line than Phelps. In Phelps, 2% of working residents work locally, where Kentucky’s towns sit at 15% and U.S. towns at 8%. For half of commuters, work is under 21 miles away. The top destinations are Pikeville (21%), Lexington (3%) and Prestonsburg (2%).
| Phelps | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 37% | 16% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 2% | 15% | 8% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expect four seasons and pleasant summers in Phelps
The range runs from 26° on a January night to 86° on a July afternoon, with about 8 inches of snow a winter.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
A larger share of adults in Phelps sleep under 7 hours than in the typical Kentucky or U.S. town
Of the 142 Kentucky towns we compare, none has a lower share of adults who binge drink than Phelps. In Phelps, two in five adults get no exercise outside work, above both Kentucky’s towns (27%) and U.S. towns (25%). For adults in the town, the share who smoke cigarettes is 29%. This Kentucky town does better than the Kentucky average on 2 of 31 CDC measures and worse on 23.
| Phelps | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 36% | 23% | 19% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 18% | 14% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 13% | 12% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 23% | 15% | 14% |
| What stands out | Phelps | KY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer binge drinkers | 11% | 14.2% |
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 84.7% | 81.3% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 41.8% | 18.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Everything we know about Phelps
Colleges nearby
None within 15 miles of Phelps; the nearest are
About 0 of every 100 Phelps residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Kentucky.
98% of working residents leave Phelps for work
Where Phelps’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
About Phelps
CDP in Kentucky, United States
Phelps is a census-designated place (CDP) in Pike County, Kentucky, United States. As of the 2020 census, Phelps had a population of 760. It is the easternmost census-designated community in Kentucky.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 8.0 sq mi
- Elevation
- 837 ft
- ZIP code
- 41553
Questions about Phelps
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Phelps, KY a good place to live?
Phelps has fewer than 1,000 residents, too few for fair grades; the figures below are still real.