Butler County General Demographic Data

Wed, 03/30/2022 - 8:09am — Diane Dyer

Barren River Area Development District recently presented a strategic plan for Butler County. Data presented in the Strategic Plan is meant to give context around the goals set forth by the Butler County Steering Committee. Steering Committee members utilized this information to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats facing Butler County before setting goals and objectives around to address identified areas. Data has been gethered from multiple public sources, including the U.S. Census, U.S. Bureau for Labor Statistics, Headwaters Economics' Economic Profile System, and the KY Injury Prevention Research Center, among others.

From 2000 to 2020, Butler County has experienced a slight decrease in population, going from an estimated 12,734 citizens to an estimated 12,371 citizens. These citizens are primarily between the ages of 15-64 (63.4%), with the median age being 41.3 years.

The racial composition of a place can indicate different needs, values, and attitudes sometimes held by different racial groups. Butler County is 92.67% White, .12% Black/African American, .19% Asian, .26% American Indian/Alaska Native, and 3.29% other or multi-racial. Additionally, 4.79% of Butler County’s population identify as Hispanic or Latino. It is important to consider whether proposed policies and management actions could have disproportionately high and adverse effects on minority populations. This consideration, broadly referred to as “environmental justice,” is a requirement of U.S. Executive Order 12898. The Social Science Research Council hosts a useful resource on the health and welfare of racial and ethnic groups.

1.60% of households in Butler County are considered limited English speaking households. While English is the primary language in 95.6% of households, other languages spoken at home include: Spanish (2.7%), other Indo-European landguages (.9%), and Asian and Pacific Island languages (0.1%).

4.79% of the population of Butler County indentify as Hispanic. This is slightly higher than the state's percentage of Hispanic population (4.62%).

Demographic Data Overview:

- 2020 population: 12,371 – 17.1% below poverty

- -0.13% population change 2010-2020

- 16.3% food insecure

- 8.1% population with a cognitive difficulty

- 10.3% population with an independent living difficulty

- 13.3% population with ambulatory difficulty

- 73.7 years life expectancy

- 5.7% of the population is blind or vision impaired

- 10.3% population of adults age 20+ with diagnosed diabetes

- 9.04% population in a family household with a single householder present (typically single-parent households)