Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 234, settled in 1880.
20% of residents live below the poverty line in Sparta, above both the Kentucky town median (16%) and the median of U.S. towns (9.6%). Benjamin F. Turley House is on the National Register of Historic Places. Sparta has fewer than 1,000 residents, too few for fair grades; the figures below are still real.
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
Census counts: 62 in 1880, a peak of 563 in 1940, 236 in 2020. The archive holds 3 old photos and papers going back to 2004 and 3 maps from 1951 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Sparta, 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 Sparta.
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 81% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 6 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Sparta.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Most working residents leave Sparta for work: only 0% work in town. Jobs based in Sparta fell to 44 in 2023, 108 fewer than in 2013. At $51,000, Sparta’s median household income is where Kentucky’s towns sit at $60,000 and U.S. towns at $80,000.
| Sparta | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $51,000 | $60,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 26 minutes | 22 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Sparta has chilly winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 86°, January nights drop to 24° and about 7 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Sparta beats the Kentucky average on 1 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 9. 23% of Sparta adults smoke cigarettes. Only 6 of the 142 Kentucky towns we compare have a higher share of adults who sleep under 7 hours than Sparta.
| Sparta | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 23% | 18% | 14% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 45% | 40% | 36% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 15% | 14% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 27% | 23% |
| What stands out | Sparta | KY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 10.9% | 18.9% |
| More uninsured adults | 7.7% | 5.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the Kentucky average. 27% of residents are under 18 in Sparta. Sparta has grown 2.2% since 2020, to 234 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| Sparta | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 27% | 22% | 22% |
| Median age | 37 years | 37.6 years | 40.5 years |
Somewhere between 19% and 70% women
The Census survey reached too few of Sparta’s residents to say more: its margin here is ±25.2 points. Across Kentucky, 50.5% of residents are women.
| Sparta | KY | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 16.5% | 12.1% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 9.9% | 10.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 4% | 9.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 15.8% | 13.1% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 9.2% | 12.6% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 16.2% | 12.3% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 13.2% | 13% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 14.7% | 10.5% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 0.4% | 6.8% | 7% |
| No diploma | 21.7% | 11.1% | 10.4% |
| High school | 30.7% | 32.6% | 26% |
| Some college | 21.2% | 19.7% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 6.3% | 9% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 10.6% | 16.2% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 9.5% | 11.3% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 200, single groups can be off by several points
The typical Sparta home is worth about $229,000, down 2.4% in a year, close to the Kentucky typical home.
| Sparta | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 74% | 59% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,063 a month | $934 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
None within 15 miles of Sparta; the nearest are
About 4 of every 100 Sparta residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Kentucky.
Where Sparta’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
City in Kentucky, United States
Sparta is a home rule-class city in Gallatin and Owen counties in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, Sparta had a population of 236. Sparta is home to Kentucky Speedway.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Sparta has fewer than 1,000 residents, too few for fair grades; the figures below are still real.