Pine KnotKY
A town of 1,051, settled in 1887.
Is Pine Knot a good place to live?
Pine Knot’s best subject grade is an A− for cost of living; its weakest is a D− for health. Pine Knot has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
What makes Pine Knot stand out
Where Pine Knot beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Typical home value
| Widest gap | Pine Knot | KY |
|---|---|---|
| More uninsured adults | 10.9% | 5.4% |
Pine Knot has shrunk 15% from 2010 to 2020
1,621 counted in 2010 and 1,380 in 2020.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts
How Pine Knot grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Kentucky), ordered by how far Pine Knot is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Pine Knot: who provides what
Pine Knot is unincorporated, so McCreary 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 Pine Knot.
Pine Knot stands out in Kentucky and nationally: a larger share of its adults report frequent physical distress
For adults in Pine Knot, the share who worry about having enough food is 26%. Among 142 Kentucky towns, just one has a higher share of adults who say their health is fair or poor than Pine Knot. Also worth knowing: the share of adults in Pine Knot who smoke cigarettes is 27%, against 18% in Kentucky’s towns and 14% across U.S. towns.
| Pine Knot | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 34% | 23% | 19% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 18% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 23% | 18% | 17% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 15% | 14% |
| What stands out | Pine Knot | KY |
|---|---|---|
| More uninsured adults | 10.9% | 5.4% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 25.8% | 15.5% |
| More adults without reliable transportation | 14.3% | 8.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Pine Knot’s schools rank behind 58% of Kentucky districts
The public schools here belong to the McCreary County school district. One of its 2 schools is below, with the reason it’s listed. The 2 public schools in Pine Knot teach 777 students between them.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pine Knot PrimaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–2 | Grades PK–2 | 425 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within KY on state tests and graduation
A smaller share of households are owner-occupiers in Pine Knot than in most of Kentucky or the rest of the country
Zillow values the typical Pine Knot home at about $114,000, down 4.8% in a year, 51% below the Kentucky typical home. No town among the 140 in Kentucky we compare has a lower typical rent than Pine Knot.
| Pine Knot | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 32% | 59% | 73% |
| Median rent | $291 a month | $934 a month | $1,185 a month |
Typical home value
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Pine Knot faces a low natural-hazard risk, led by cold waves
The FEMA hazard score in Pine Knot is 29 of 100. 27% of the town’s expected losses from natural hazards come from cold waves, followed by inland flooding at 25%. Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 71% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Four seasons and pleasant summers: that is Pine Knot’s year
No town among the 143 in Kentucky we compare has a lower midsummer high than Pine Knot. July afternoons reach 85°, January nights drop to 26° and about 6 inches of snow falls in a winter.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
A job hub: Pine Knot has 1.3 jobs for every working resident and draws in 462 commuters
The top destinations are Stearns (10%), Somerset (9%) and Whitley City (8%). For most workers, Pine Knot is a place to come home to: only 6% work in town. Of the 143 Kentucky towns we compare, none has a higher share of residents below the poverty line than Pine Knot. Jobs based in Pine Knot grew to 486 in 2023, 180 more than in 2013.
| Pine Knot | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 53% | 16% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 6.2% | 15% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 22 minutes | 25 minutes |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Cumberland Falls and 8 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Pine Knot. Close and well known come first.
13 mi WaterfallCumberland Falls
37 mi LakeLake Cumberland
4 mi National RiverBig South Fork National River and Recreation Area774K visitors a year
37 mi State parkFrozen Head State Park
37 mi National Historical ParkCumberland Gap National Historical Park765K visitors a year
6 mi MuseumBlue HeronPhoto credits
Cumberland Falls: ChrisKuehl, Public domain · Lake Cumberland: Censusdata at English Wikipedia, Public domain · Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area: Brian Stansberry, CC BY 3.0 · Frozen Head State Park: Brian Stansberry (photographer), CC BY 3.0 · Cumberland Gap National Historical Park: J654567, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Blue Heron: Brian Stansberry, CC BY 3.0
Everything we know about Pine Knot
Colleges nearby
None within 15 miles of Pine Knot; the nearest are
About 3 of every 100 Pine Knot residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Kentucky.
1,051 people, and everyone knows the way
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
Questions about Pine Knot
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Pine Knot, KY expensive?
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−.