Photo: Nyttend · Public domainPrestonsburg ranks among the lowest-earning U.S. towns by household income
For jobs and income Prestonsburg is better than 2% of U.S. towns (D−); for walkability it is more walkable than 89% of U.S. towns (A). Measured by household income, Prestonsburg is among the lowest-earning towns in the country. 45.3% of residents are in poverty, against 16.1% across Kentucky.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Prestonsburg, in a few figures
Prestonsburg fills up on a workday
Prestonsburg has 5,923 jobs, 4.4 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 8,200 people are in town, more than double the 3,600 who live here. Day and night ↓
Prestonsburg draws workers from far and wide
The 5,923 jobs in Prestonsburg are filled from a wide area. Prestonsburg’s own residents hold 8% and the ten next-biggest home towns 10%; the other 82% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Commutes from Prestonsburg are quick
The average trip to work takes 17 minutes, against 24 across Kentucky. That’s about 54 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 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Why Prestonsburg gets the Jobs & income grade it does
Job access by car holds Prestonsburg’s grade up (ahead of 27% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (19.3%, U.S. 5.2%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Prestonsburg could be anywhere from D− to D.
How many people are in Prestonsburg by day
On a workday 882 residents head out to work, 481 work right here, and 5,442 people come in from elsewhere.
About 8,200 people are in Prestonsburg on a workday afternoon, 126% more than live here.
4.3 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 2023, primary jobs.
The daily trip into Prestonsburg
Where Prestonsburg clocks in
8% of workers
5% of workers
3% 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.
From Prestonsburg, about 17 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Prestonsburg workers work from home, vs 10% across Kentucky. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 990 commuters (the 6% 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.
Mostly health care, schools and offices in Prestonsburg
5,923 jobs are based in Prestonsburg.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Prestonsburg, 2013 → 2023: 6,172 → 5,923. 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 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Prestonsburg’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Near or far: the trip to work from Prestonsburg
About 19% 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 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Prestonsburg
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 10.2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.1% across Kentucky, on an EPA index of 8.6.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,052 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). 12.4% of Prestonsburg households have no vehicle (Kentucky 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Prestonsburg’s commuters take a bus or train.
Prestonsburg and other U.S. towns of 2,500 to 4,900
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 14 | Lakeside Park KY | 2,847 | $129K | 1.5% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| 15 | Indian Hills KY | 2,939 | $192K | 2.6% | 0.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 94 | Buckner KY | 4,119 | $164K | 0.1% | 2.1% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,406 | Ahoskie NC | 4,608 | $41K | 27.7% | 11.7% | 26% | D− |
| 4,407 | Nocona TX | 3,277 | $43K | 19.8% | 24.2% | 30% | D− |
| 4,408 | Prestonsburg KY | 3,618 | $26K | 45.3% | 19.3% | 35% | D− |
| 4,409 | Winnfield LA | 4,480 | $42K | 37.8% | 11.8% | 32% | D− |
| 4,410 | Waldron AR | 3,387 | $34K | 19.4% | 13.8% | 39% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,474 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Prestonsburg, the top three, the last and three more from Kentucky.
How Prestonsburg compares with the towns next door
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Prestonsburg workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prestonsburg | – | D− | A | 17 min | $25,746 |
| Dwale | under 1% | — | — | — | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Dwale: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Prestonsburg’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 2023, 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 Prestonsburg: questions
What is the median household income in Prestonsburg?
$25,746 (±$4,604) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,726 across Kentucky and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Prestonsburg?
45.3%, against 16.1% across Kentucky and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Prestonsburg?
17 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Kentucky and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Prestonsburg work?
35% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Pikeville (8%, 19 mi), Paintsville (5%, 10 mi), Hazard (3%, 37 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Prestonsburg walkable?
Prestonsburg is more walkable than 89% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 8.6 out of 20, and 10% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Prestonsburg without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Prestonsburg, from the people who make the trip.
More of Prestonsburg
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, 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.