Jury Pool Profile

Rockcastle County, Kentucky

Republican +73.1 (2024)

County seat: Mount Vernon
Judicial district: 28th Judicial Circuit Court
Population (July 2025 estimate): 16,148; Census PEP. The five-year ACS survey average is 16,163.

At a glance

Rockcastle County is a 16,148-person venue. The county population is 96% White (Census race-alone categories). Median household income is $48,953, $15,528 below the KY state median of $64,481; 13.7% of residents 25 and over hold a bachelor's degree or higher. 1.3% of residents 5 and older speak a language other than English at home. The largest published sector is Education & health services, at 29.0% of covered employment, average pay $54,496/year. Trailing-12-month unemployment is 5.08%, above the 4.43% state average. The county carried the Republican presidential candidate in 2016, 2020, and 2024, taking 84% to 86% of the vote across the three.

Population: 16,163
Median household income: $48,862
Unemployment: 5.1%

Who sits on a jury?

Predominantly White

≥70% White (race-alone) and <20% Black. This county: 96% / 1%.

Rockcastle County has a population of 16,163, with a median age of 42.8. By Census race-alone categories, White residents make up 95.7%; Black residents 0.6%. Independently, 1.3% of residents identify as Hispanic or Latino of any race.

The median household earns $48,953; 13.7% of residents 25 and over hold a bachelor's degree or higher; 21.8% live below the federal poverty line.

Race & ethnicity

White (non-Hispanic) 15,409 95.3%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 204 1.3%
Black or African American (non-Hispanic) 97 0.6%
Asian (non-Hispanic) 13 0.1%
Two or more races (non-Hispanic) 344 2.1%
American Indian / Alaska Native (non-Hispanic) 5 0.0%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander (non-Hispanic) 23 0.1%
Some other race (non-Hispanic) 68 0.4%

U.S. Census ACS 2024

Age distribution

Median age 42.8

Under 18 3,480 21.5%
18–24 1,176 7.3%
25–44 3,770 23.3%
45–64 4,621 28.6%
65 and over 3,116 19.3%

U.S. Census ACS 2024

Income & poverty

Median household income: $48,953; 90% interval $43,425–$54,481; −$15,528 vs KY · 91st of 120
Below poverty line: 21.8%; 90% interval 17.8%–25.8%; +6.4 pp vs KY · 29th of 120

U.S. Census SAIPE 2024

Economic context

Healthcare & education anchored

Largest sector in BLS QCEW, with cells BLS withholds estimated from Census County Business Patterns (private jobs) and the statewide public-sector mix: Education & health services, about 44% of covered jobs.

Education & health services is the largest published sector at 29.0% of covered employment, followed by Trade, transportation & utilities at 13.7%. Trailing-12-month unemployment is 5.08%, above the Kentucky state average.

Local economy

Unemployment (12-mo): 5.1%; +0.65 pp vs. state
County GDP: $431.6M; 0.15% of state
Avg. annual pay: $43,848
Establishments: 289

U.S. BLS 2026M07 · U.S. BEA 2024 · BLS QCEW 2025

Top employment sectors

Average annual employment by supersector

Education & health services 1,113 29.0%
Trade, transportation & utilities 527 13.7%
Leisure & hospitality 274 7.1%
Professional & business services 207 5.4%
Manufacturing 195 5.1%
Public administration 146 3.8%
Financial activities 98 2.6%

The sectors listed cover 66.7% of covered employment; BLS withholds the rest to avoid disclosing individual employers.

BLS QCEW 2025

Housing

Home ownership: 74.3%; +6.0 pp vs KY · 62nd of 120
Median gross rent: $676; −$291 vs KY · 95th of 120
Owner-occupied: 4,857
Renter-occupied: 1,677

U.S. Census ACS 2024

Local economy in 3 reads

Diversified

Top three sectors employ 50% of the workforce, a relatively diversified local economy. Expect mixed employer backgrounds on the panel rather than concentration in any one institution or industry.
Moderate wage spread

Highest-paid sector (Education & health services, $54,496/yr) pays 3.4× the lowest (Leisure & hospitality, $16,212/yr). Expect meaningful income variation across the panel.
Mixed business scale

Average establishment employs 13 workers, a mix of institutional employers and small businesses. Both employed-by-large-institution and small-business-owner perspectives are likely on the panel.

BLS QCEW 2025

Political composition

Consistently strongly Republican

Republican candidate carried this county in 2016, 2020, and 2024 (avg winning share: 85%). 'Strongly' threshold: ≥60% avg.

Rockcastle County was carried by the Republican candidate in the 2016, 2020, and 2024 cycles, with 85.9% in 2024, 84.5% in 2020, 83.9% in 2016.

Presidential results

2024 presidential · 7,724 votes cast

Republican
Democratic

Republican 6,635 85.9%
Democratic 986 12.8%
Other / third-party 103 1.3%

Election results 2024

Languages, households, faith & health

Family-majority, English-speaking

Family households are 66% of all households (thresholds: ≥70% = 'family-dominant'; 50–70% = 'family-majority'; <50% = 'singles/nonfamily-majority'). 1.3% of residents 5 and older speak a language other than English at home (threshold for 'linguistically diverse' is ≥10%).

1.3% of residents 5 years and older speak a language other than English at home. The most common are Spanish, German or other West Germanic, French, Haitian, or Cajun. Veterans account for 4.6% of the adult civilian population (588 individuals).

Languages spoken at home

98.7% speak only English at home

Spanish 143 0.9%
German or other West Germanic 25 0.2%
French, Haitian, or Cajun 3 0.0%

U.S. Census ACS 2024

Household composition

Households: 6,534
Family households: 4,326; 66.2% of households
Married couples w/ children: 1,144; 26.4% of families
Single-mother families: 270; 6.2% of families
Veterans: 588; 4.6% of civilians 18+

U.S. Census ACS 2024

Religious composition

57.7% overall adherence rate

Evangelical Protestant 8,519 53.1%
Black Protestant 572 3.6%
Other (non-Christian + minor traditions) 140 0.9%
Catholic 21 0.1%

US Religion Census 2020

Health & education

Health insured: 93.2%; ±1.5 pp
Uninsured: 6.8%; ±1.5 pp; 41st of 120
With a disability: 23.1%; ±1.9 pp; 41st of 120
Bachelor's or higher: 13.7%; ±2.2 pp; −13.9 pp vs KY · 97th of 120
Uninsured, under 65 (2024): 9.3%; 90% interval 8.1%–10.5% · Census SAHIE

The under-65 uninsured rate is not comparable to the ACS insurance figures, which cover all ages.

U.S. Census ACS 2024

Court infrastructure

Trial court: 28th Judicial Circuit Court
Judges: 3 (Circuit Court judges per circuit (general civil + felony criminal jurisdiction; civil amount-in-controversy > $5,000); District Court judges (limited jurisdiction) separate. Vintage 2026 kycourts.gov; shaded-bench counts per Wikipedia 'Kentucky Circuit Courts' judge-count map, with the three '6 or more' circuits (16th Kenton, 22nd Fayette, 30th Jefferson) hard-pinned to 6, 9, and 23 respectively per Wikipedia footnote 4. Mid-range single-county metro and exurban-cluster circuits are conservative midpoints; verify against KRS § 23A.040 before relying on exact counts.)
Court seats: Mount Vernon, Somerset, Stanford

This judicial district spans multiple counties.

Court reference

Traffic safety context

Rockcastle totals, 2024 — the per-100k rate is based on 6 recorded deaths, too few to be statistically reliable

Traffic fatalities: 6; 47.31 per 100k adults (18+)
Fatal crashes: 6

NHTSA FARS 2024