Research

UK Appalachian Center, Cooperative Extension Provide ‘Eastern Kentucky: By the Numbers’ Public Data Sets

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 15, 2020) — The University of Kentucky Appalachian Center has a new resource available for students, faculty and community members seeking information on populations in Eastern Kentucky’s 54 counties.

“Eastern Kentucky: By the Numbers” offers a specialized set of county profiles from UK Cooperative Extension’s “Kentucky: By the Numbers" program. Compiled from 18 different sources, data for more than 60 variables are organized across 10 thematic areas, including:

  • Demographics
  • Youth
  • Income/Earnings
  • Education
  • Agriculture
  • Employment
  • Coal Employment
  • Health
  • Substance use disorder
  • Poverty/Insecurity

"We are excited to have these easy-to-use data sets available for the university community and folks throughout the region to use,” said Kathryn Engle, associate director of the Appalachian Center. “The project pulls from many data sources and are great tools to incorporate into the classroom."

To see the information, simply visit https://appalachiancenter.as.uky.edu/eastern-kentucky-numbers and select a county or map.

The “Eastern Kentucky: By The Numbers” project is a collaboration between the Appalachian Center and the “Kentucky: By The Numbers” Cooperative Extension program led by Julie N. Zimmerman in the Department of Community and Leadership Development in UK’s College of Agriculture, Food and Environment. Data for the Eastern Kentucky project were compiled by Zimmerman and Cameron McAlister, a doctoral student in the UK Department of Sociology, in partnership with the Appalachian Center. 

“I was proud to be a part of putting together the county profiles with the UK Appalachian Center and their long tradition of providing data for Eastern Kentucky,” Zimmerman said. “By providing a comprehensive array of data in one place, I hope these profiles are useful to researchers and students as well as local groups as they pursue work in the region.”

As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.   

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