In new projections released by the University of Louisville State Data Center, Russell County is expected to lose anywhere from four percent of its current population to gaining five percent on its population total in the next 30 years.
The range of -4 percent to 5 percent shows the population of our area changing very little over the next three decades, according to the data center’s estimates.
Neighboring Pulaski County is in that same range while neighboring Adair, Cumberland, Clinton, and Wayne counties are expected to lose between 10 and 24 percent of their current population. Neighboring Casey County is expected to lose between five and nine percent of its total population in that time.
The flood ravaged Eastern Kentucky counties of Knott and Letcher are both expected to lose more than 43 percent of their population in the next 30 years. Those are the two highest rates in Kentucky.
Life expectancy, fertility and migration data were used in the projections with overall population numbers provided by the most recent census data.
