Photo: Nyttend · Public domainPikeville’s household incomes are lower than in 96% of U.S. towns
For jobs and income Pikeville is better than 19% of U.S. towns (C−); for walkability it is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns (A−). The poverty rate is 27.1%, where Kentucky as a whole has 16.1%. About half work in Pikeville itself; outside it, Prestonsburg draws the most (4%, 19 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Pikeville: the gist
Pikeville fills up on a workday
Pikeville has 11,614 jobs, 4.7 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 16,000 people are in town, more than double the 7,300 who live here. Day and night ↓
Pikeville draws workers from far and wide
The 11,614 jobs in Pikeville are filled from a wide area. Pikeville’s own residents hold 10% and the ten next-biggest home towns 8%; the other 82% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Commutes from Pikeville are quick
The average trip to work takes 13 minutes, against 24 across Kentucky. That’s about 84 hours a year less on the road than the typical Kentucky worker. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Pikeville’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
Unemployment holds Pikeville’s grade up (3.2%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($39,955, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Pikeville could be anywhere from D to C+.
Who leaves Pikeville for work, and who comes in
On a workday 1,314 residents head out to work, 1,145 work right here, and 10,469 people come in from elsewhere.
About 16,000 people are in Pikeville on a workday afternoon, 126% more than live here.
4.7 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
The towns that send workers to Pikeville
Where Pikeville clocks in
4% of workers
4% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Getting to work from Pikeville takes about 13 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Pikeville workers work from home, vs 10% across Kentucky. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,385 commuters (the 10% who work from home are left out). Across Kentucky: 85% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Most jobs in Pikeville are in services
11,614 jobs are based in Pikeville.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Pikeville, 2014 → 2024: 11,857 → 11,614. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Pikeville’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Pikeville’s commute, mile by mile
About 23% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
In Pikeville, walking beats the bus
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 9.1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.1% across Kentucky, on an EPA index of 7.8.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,652 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 14.4% of Pikeville households have no vehicle (Kentucky 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Pikeville’s commuters take a bus or train.
Pikeville places 2,684th of 3,122 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 5,100 to 9,800
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 71 | Union KY | 7,937 | $137K | 2.9% | 1.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 184 | Edgewood KY | 8,503 | $119K | 3.8% | 2.4% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 287 | Fort Wright KY | 6,240 | $105K | 3.0% | 3.4% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,682 | Rusk TX | 5,568 | $53K | 8.5% | 11.4% | 22% | C− |
| 2,683 | Bloomingdale TN | 9,292 | $52K | 25.7% | 6.2% | <1% | C− |
| 2,684 | Pikeville KY | 7,270 | $40K | 27.1% | 3.2% | 47% | C− |
| 2,685 | Jan Phyl Village FL | 5,708 | $54K | 27.0% | 6.7% | 2% | C− |
| 2,686 | Portland IN | 6,237 | $52K | 17.3% | 5.0% | 32% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,122 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 6% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Pikeville, the top three, the last and three more from Kentucky.
How Pikeville compares with the towns next door
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Pikeville workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pikeville | – | C− | A− | 13 min | $39,955 |
| Coal Run Village | 4% | D | C | 17 min | $52,750 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Coal Run Village. Darker towns draw more of Pikeville’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Pikeville: questions
What is the median household income in Pikeville?
$39,955 (±$13,387) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,726 across Kentucky and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Pikeville?
27.1%, against 16.1% across Kentucky and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Pikeville?
13 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Kentucky and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Pikeville work?
47% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Prestonsburg (4%, 19 mi), Coal Run Village (4%, 4 mi), Lexington (3%, 112 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Pikeville walkable?
Pikeville is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.8 out of 20, and 9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Pikeville without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 14% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Pikeville, from the people who make the trip.
More of Pikeville
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.