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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.”

The University of Kentucky is increasingly the first choice for students, faculty and staff to pursue their passions and their professional goals. In the last two years, Forbes has named UK among the best employers for diversity, and INSIGHT into Diversity recognized us as a Diversity Champion three years running. UK is ranked among the top 30 campuses in the nation for LGBTQ* inclusion and safety. UK has been judged a “Great College to Work for" two years in a row, and UK is among only 22 universities in the country on Forbes' list of "America's Best Employers."  We are ranked among the top 10 percent of public institutions for research expenditures — a tangible symbol of our breadth and depth as a university focused on discovery that changes lives and communities. And our patients know and appreciate the fact that UK HealthCare has been named the state’s top hospital for four straight years. Accolades and honors are great. But they are more important for what they represent: the idea that creating a community of belonging and commitment to excellence is how we honor our mission to be not simply the University of Kentucky, but the University for Kentucky.