Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Pikeville grades D− overall, ranked 136th of 138 in Kentucky, mostly because of health and incomes. CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 88% of the country. The median household income is $40K, and 27% of residents live below the poverty line. In its favor, it is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns. 45% of working residents work locally in Pikeville, where Kentucky’s towns sit at 15% and U.S. towns at 8%. Only 1 of Kentucky’s 238 towns score lower on cost of living. Pikeville has 12 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Pikeville College Academy Building and Odd Fellows Building.
Where Pikeville beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Pikeville College Academy Building
Census counts: 140 in 1870, 7,754 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1880 and 4 maps from 1916 on.
12 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Kentucky), ordered by how far Pikeville is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Pikeville, 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 Pikeville.
Pikeville draws workers from Coal Run Village and beyond and is healthier than towns with similar incomes, but it carries more natural-hazard risk than most of Kentucky (mostly inland flooding).
11,094 jobs are based in Pikeville, 4.6 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. The average commute takes 13.4 minutes, against 24 across Kentucky.
Pikeville’s average trip to work is 13 minutes. The top destinations are Coal Run Village (4%), Lexington (4%) and Prestonsburg (4%).
| Pikeville | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 13 minutes | 22 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $40,000 | $60,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its public schools are run by the Pikeville Independent school district. Its two schools are below. The largest public high school is Pikeville High School, with 518 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pikeville Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 611 | A+ |
| Pikeville High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 7–12 | Grades 7–12 | 518 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within KY on state tests and graduation
Against the 2,384 U.S. towns with household incomes like Pikeville’s, it is healthier than 56%, so its D isn’t only a matter of income.
30% of adults have been diagnosed with depression in Pikeville. Pikeville beats the Kentucky average on 1 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 10. 40% of adults have obesity in Pikeville.
| Pikeville | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 18% | 17% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 27% | 23% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 18% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 22% | 19% |
| What stands out | Pikeville | KY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 7.5% | 8.7% |
| More uninsured adults | 8.2% | 5.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 97% of Kentucky towns, with expected losses of about $781 per resident a year; that rating is what its D− for hazard risk is built on.
The FEMA risk score in Pikeville is 92 of 100. Since 1978, 112 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Pikeville.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
At 2.8 years of the Pikeville area’s $43K median household income, the typical home (about $123K) costs less against local pay than in 79% of Kentucky towns; that ratio is one input to its D− for cost of living. The typical value, about $123K, is 14% below its May 2025 peak.
The typical Pikeville home is worth about $123,000, down 8.5% in a year, 47% below the Kentucky typical home. 41% of Pikeville households own their home.
| Pikeville | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 41% | 59% | 73% |
| Median rent | $862 a month | $937 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Pikeville has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 88°, January nights drop to 27° and about 1 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
4.5 miles of trail in 6 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Bob Amos Park, at 137 acres.
| Pikeville | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 0.3% | 1.8% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Pikeville Mini-Park | 0.5 mi | 10 |
| 2. Bob Amos Park | — | 137 |
| 3. Memorial Park | — | 3 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
At 19.4 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 64% of Kentucky’s graded towns.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
2 within 15 miles of the center of Pikeville
College town 16 of every 100 Pikeville residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Kentucky.
2 colleges in town.
12 places in Pikeville on the National Register of Historic Places.
13 notable people were born in Pikeville.
City in Kentucky, United States
Pikeville () is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Pike County, Kentucky, United States. Its population was 7,754 as of the 2020 census. Pikeville serves as a regional economic, educational, and entertainment hub for the surrounding areas of eastern Kentucky, Virginia, and West Virginia. It is home to the University of Pikeville and the Pikeville Cut-Through, the second-largest earthmoving project in the Western Hemisphere.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Pikeville.
| Town | KY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pikeville | #136 | D− | D− | B− | C+ | D |
| Coal Run Village | — | — | B− | B+ | C | D− |
Coal Run Village has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Compare Pikeville with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Pikeville grades D− overall, better than 4% of U.S. towns and #136 of 138 in Kentucky. It grades D for health, B− for safety and C+ for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D−.
Yes. That is 2.8 years of the area's median household income ($43,214 across the Pikeville, KY area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D−.
13 notable people were born here, including Dwight Yoakam and Patty Loveless.
