Financial Literacy in Garrard County, Kentucky

Garrard County, Kentucky is home to about 18,040 people. The population has grown 6.3% since 2020, from 16,964 to 18,040. The median age is 42.9.

19.1% of Garrard County residents 25 and older have completed a bachelor's degree or more. That runs 1.5 points above the Kentucky average of 17.6%. Put the other way round: of the 12,332 adults 25 and over counted in the 2019–2023 ACS, roughly 9,977 — 80.9% — are building their financial lives without a four-year degree behind them.

The typical household here earns $62,572 a year. That is $7,942 above the Kentucky median. About 17.1% of residents live below the poverty line. The median home is valued at $186,800 — about 3× the median household income, a ratio that makes the arithmetic of a mortgage worth understanding before signing one.

Garrard County by the numbers

Measure	Value
Population (2024)	18,040
Change since 2020	+6.3%
Median household income	$62,572
Adults 25+ with a bachelor’s degree	19.1%
Adults 25+ with a high school diploma	85.8%
Median age	42.9
Poverty rate	17.1%
Unemployment rate	6.1%
Median home value	$186,800
Land area	229.925 sq mi
Population density	78 / sq mi

What Kentucky teaches — and to whom

Kentucky has committed to a full year of personal finance as a graduation requirement, phasing in with the class of 2030 — so today's middle schoolers will be the first cohort held to it. That covers students still in the system. It does nothing for the adults already out of it — which, in Garrard County, is most of the people reading this.

LearnLife organises this the way the decisions actually arrive: Emotional regulation — the self-management that decides whether the other skills ever get used; Money — budgeting, credit, debt and taxes — the mechanics nobody is formally taught; Legal literacy — leases, contracts, employment rights and what a signature actually commits you to.

Where to start in Garrard County

Treat income stability as a skill

Unemployment in Garrard County sits at 6.1%. Where work is less certain, the practical skills are the defensive ones: what unemployment insurance actually pays and how fast, how to read a severance agreement, and which bills to triage first when income stops.

Questions people ask about Garrard County

Do high school students in Garrard County, Kentucky have to take a personal finance class?

Yes — Kentucky has adopted a standalone requirement, phasing in with the graduating class of 2030. Students graduating before then are not covered.

How many adults in Garrard County, Kentucky have a college degree?

19.1% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor's degree or higher, based on the Census Bureau's 2019–2023 American Community Survey. The remaining 80.9% are managing their finances without one.

What is the median household income in Garrard County, Kentucky?

$62,572, per the Census Bureau's 2019–2023 American Community Survey.

Where can adults in Garrard County, Kentucky learn personal finance?

Graduation requirements only ever reach people still in school. For adults, LearnLife covers the same ground on demand — money, legal literacy and the self-management that decides whether either gets used.

Start with whichever one is costing you money right now.

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Population and demographic figures: U.S. Census Bureau — 2024 Gazetteer, Vintage 2024 Population Estimates, and the American Community Survey 2019–2023 5-year estimates. Graduation-requirement status: NGPF Live U.S. Dashboard, read 2026-09-14. Figures marked as unavailable are suppressed by the Census Bureau for small populations.