Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Prestonsburg earns a D, 129th among Kentucky's 138 graded towns, mostly because of incomes and health. The median household income is $26K, and 45% of residents live below the poverty line. CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 96% of the country. In its favor, it is more walkable than 89% of U.S. towns. 45% of residents live below the poverty line in Prestonsburg, above both the Kentucky town median (16%) and the median of U.S. towns (9.6%). On hazard risk, just 7 of Kentucky’s 238 towns do worse. Its National Register listings include Middle Creek Battlefield and Samuel May House.
Where Prestonsburg beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Samuel May House| Widest gap | Prestonsburg | KY |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 32.4% | 18.9% |
Middle Creek Battlefield is a National Historic Landmark, the National Register’s top tier.
Census counts: 84 in 1840, 3,681 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 2008 and 5 maps from 1915 on.
13 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Kentucky), ordered by how far Prestonsburg is from typical.
Its grades run from A for walkability (better than 89% of comparable towns) to D− for jobs and income (better than 2%), so the D overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Prestonsburg, 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 Prestonsburg.
Prestonsburg draws workers from Paintsville and beyond and is healthier than towns with similar incomes, but it carries more natural-hazard risk than most of Kentucky (mostly inland flooding).
Against the 251 U.S. towns with household incomes like Prestonsburg’s, it is healthier than 54%, so its D− isn’t only a matter of income.
20% of Prestonsburg adults report frequent physical distress. Only 2 of the 141 Kentucky towns we compare have a higher share of adults who say their health is fair or poor than Prestonsburg. 24% of Prestonsburg adults smoke cigarettes.
| Prestonsburg | 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) | 31% | 22% | 19% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 13% | 12% |
| What stands out | Prestonsburg | KY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer binge drinkers | 11.3% | 14.2% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 32.4% | 18.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its public schools are run by the Floyd County school district. Two of its 5 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Prestonsburg High School, with 508 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prestonsburg Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 574 | D |
| Prestonsburg High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 508 | C− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within KY on state tests and graduation
5,923 jobs are based in Prestonsburg, 4.3 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. The average commute takes 17.4 minutes, against 24 across Kentucky.
Among 142 Kentucky towns, just 2 have a lower median household income than Prestonsburg. 35% of working residents work locally in Prestonsburg. The top destinations are Pikeville (8%), Paintsville (5%) and Hazard (3%).
| Prestonsburg | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 35% | 15% | 8% |
| Median household income | $26,000 | $60,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 17 minutes | 22 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 98% of Kentucky towns, with expected losses of about $1,428 per resident a year; that rating is what its D− for hazard risk is built on.
Prestonsburg’s FEMA risk score is 93 of 100. Since 1978, 100 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Prestonsburg.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
7.3 miles of trail in 3 parks and preserves. Jenny Wiley State Resort Park, at 1,981 acres with 1.1 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Jenny Wiley State Resort Park | 1.1 mi | 1,981 |
| 2. Jenny Wiley Park | — | 81 |
| 3. Archer Park | — | 21 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The typical value, about $130K, is 12% below its May 2025 peak. At about $130K, home values are up 9% in five years, against a rise of 25% across Kentucky.
The typical Prestonsburg home is worth about $130,000, down 6.7% in a year, 44% below the Kentucky typical home. The median rent in Prestonsburg is $592 a month.
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Prestonsburg has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 87°, January nights drop to 25° and about 4 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
45.3% of residents live below the poverty line, against 16.1% across Kentucky, which weighs on its D− for jobs and income. The median household earns $25,746, against $63,726 across Kentucky.
Adults 35 to 64 are 31% of residents (38% statewide); people 65 and older are 22% of residents (17% statewide). Prestonsburg has lost 7.5% of its people since 2020, down to 3,618 in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. 19% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 28% across Kentucky.
| Prestonsburg | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 22% | 17% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 19% | 26% | 29% |
| Median age | 37.6 years | 37.6 years | 40.5 years |
51% women, 49% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±4.4 points. Across Kentucky, 50.5% of residents are women.
| Prestonsburg | KY | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 16.9% | 12.1% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 6.2% | 10.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 11.2% | 9.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 12.6% | 13.1% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 10.9% | 12.6% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 14% | 12.3% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 6.3% | 13% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 11.9% | 10.5% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 10% | 6.8% | 7% |
| No diploma | 16.7% | 11.1% | 10.4% |
| High school | 36.7% | 32.6% | 26% |
| Some college | 17.6% | 19.7% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 10.2% | 9% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 11.3% | 16.2% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 7.5% | 11.3% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 3,600, single groups can be off by several points
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Prestonsburg. Close and well known come first.
37 mi State parkBreaks Interstate Park
11 mi MuseumU.S. 23 Country Music Highway Museum
12 mi MuseumMountain Homeplacein town MuseumEast Kentucky Science Center
17 mi MuseumMagoffin County Pioneer Village and MuseumBreaks Interstate Park: SheepNotGoats (Talk), CC BY-SA 3.0 · U.S. 23 Country Music Highway Museum: J654567, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Mountain Homeplace: J654567, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Magoffin County Pioneer Village and Museum: FloNight (Sydney Poore) and Russell Poore, CC BY-SA 3.0
1 within 15 miles of the center of Prestonsburg
About 3 of every 100 Prestonsburg residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Kentucky.
13 places in Prestonsburg on the National Register of Historic Places.
5 notable people were born in Prestonsburg.
City in Kentucky, United States
Prestonsburg is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Floyd County, Kentucky, United States. It is in the eastern part of the state in the valley of the Big Sandy River. As of the 2020 census, Prestonsburg had a population of 3,681.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Prestonsburg.
| Town | KY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prestonsburg | #129 | D | C | B+ | C− | D− |
| Dwale | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Dwale isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Prestonsburg with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Prestonsburg grades D overall, better than 8% of U.S. towns and #129 of 138 in Kentucky. It grades D− for health, B+ for safety and C− for schools. Jobs & income is its weak spot, with a D−.
That is 3 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 C.
5 notable people were born here, including Boyd Holbrook and George B. Martin.
