Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 4,705, settled in 1886.
Prospect grades B− overall, 57th of 138 graded towns in Kentucky, with clear strengths and some subjects that lag. Residents are healthier than 94% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates and the median household earns $163K. On the other side, its schools rank behind 90% of the state's. 74% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Prospect, against 26% in Kentucky’s towns and 29% across U.S. towns. On cost of living, just 10 of Kentucky’s 238 towns do worse. Prospect has 5 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them James Trigg House and Wilhoyte House.
Where Prospect beats most towns.
| Widest gap | Prospect | KY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 4.7% | 15.5% |
Where Prospect’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Kentucky), ordered by how far Prospect is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,981 in 1980, 4,592 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 2014 and 6 maps from 1905 on.
5 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Prospect. Close and well known come first.
Big draw37 mi LandmarkUnited States Bullion Depository
13 mi Theme parkKentucky Kingdom
9 mi Stadium & arenaLynn Family Stadium
10 mi Stadium & arenaKFC Yum! Center
13 mi Stadium & arenaL&N Federal Credit Union StadiumUnited States Bullion Depository: Work permit Original author=Cliff, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Kentucky Kingdom: Stevietheman at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Lynn Family Stadium: Bpluke01, CC BY-SA 4.0 · KFC Yum! Center: Jamesmac96, CC BY 3.0 · L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium: Perthsider, CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Prospect, 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 Prospect.
Prospect is the healthiest town in Kentucky, but it carries more natural-hazard risk than most of Kentucky (mostly inland flooding) and has homes that cost more against local pay than most of Kentucky.
At 8.6 years of the Louisville/Jefferson County metro’s $74K median household income, the typical home (about $635K) costs more against local pay than in 99% of Kentucky towns; that ratio is one input to its C− for cost of living. The median property tax bill is $5,561, against $1,544 across Kentucky, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
93% of Prospect households own their home. The typical Prospect home is worth about $635,000, up 3.6% in a year, more than twice the Kentucky typical home.
| Prospect | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 93% | 59% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,193 a month | $930 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its A for the outdoors ranks #2 of 142 in Kentucky.
3.1 miles of trail in 0 parks and preserves. Prospect’s trail density is 0.8 miles per square mile.
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
It is the healthiest of the 141 Kentucky towns we grade on the CDC estimates behind the Health Grade. Its widest gap with Kentucky is food insecurity: 4.7% of its 3,751 adults worry about having enough food, against 15.5% statewide.
7.2% of adults smoke cigarettes in Prospect. No town among the 141 in Kentucky we compare has a lower share of adults who get no exercise outside work than Prospect. 14% of adults binge drink in Prospect.
| Prospect | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 7.2% | 18% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 10% | 18% | 17% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 9.6% | 15% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 27% | 25% |
| What stands out | Prospect | KY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 4.7% | 15.5% |
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 6.2% | 18.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 12.9% | 8.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Violent crime is rare: 0 reported in 2025, 0 per 1,000 residents.
The violent crime rate in Prospect is 0 per 1,000 residents.
| Prospect | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0 per 1,000 residents | 1.3 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 6.6 per 1,000 residents | 8.3 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 85% of Kentucky towns, with expected losses of about $548 per resident a year; that rating is what its C− for hazard risk is built on.
Since 1980, 25 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Prospect.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
20% of workers work from home, against 10.2% across Kentucky.
Most working residents leave Prospect for work: only 4% work in town. Jobs based in Prospect grew to 1,267 in 2023, 281 more than in 2013. Only 3 of the 142 Kentucky towns we compare have a higher median household income than Prospect.
| Prospect | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $163,000 | $59,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 2.4% | 16% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 20% | 10% | 11% |
| Working residents who work in town | 4.1% | 15% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Prospect has chilly winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 88°, January nights drop to 25° and about 15 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
11 within 15 miles of the center of Prospect
About 3 of every 100 Prospect residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Kentucky.
5 places in Prospect on the National Register of Historic Places.
3 notable people were born in Prospect.
City in Kentucky, United States
Prospect is a home rule-class city in Jefferson and Oldham counties in the U.S. state of Kentucky. The Jefferson County portion is a part of the Louisville Metro government. The population was 4,592 as of the 2020 census, down from 4,698 at the time of the 2010 census. It is one of the wealthiest communities in Kentucky.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Prospect.
| Town | KY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prospect | #57 | B− | C− | A | D | A |
| Green Spring | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Green Spring isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Prospect with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Prospect grades B− overall, better than 49% of U.S. towns and #57 of 138 in Kentucky. It grades A for health, A for safety and D for schools. Schools is its weak spot, with a D.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.
3 notable people were born here, including Naomi Wallace and Ray Burse.
