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Harlan County · Kentucky

ZIP code 40831

Population, income, housing costs and the sales tax rate charged on purchases inside ZIP 40831 — Census 2019-2023 ACS 5-year, no modelled estimates.
Population
4,719

ZCTA residents

Median income
$35,417

Household, past 12 months

Median home
$106,500

Owner-occupied value

Sales tax
6%

Kentucky state rate

Quick answer

ZIP 40831 sits in Harlan County, Kentucky and is home to 4,719 people. Median household income is $35,417, the median home is worth $106,500 and median gross rent is $567. 56.7% of households own their home, and purchases are taxed at 6% (Kentucky state rate).

County
Harlan County

FIPS 21095

State
Kentucky (KY)

779 ZIPs covered

Area codes
Not published

No NANPA match for this ZIP

Metro area
Outside covered metros

Rate jurisdiction used for tax

The numbers for 40831

American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates for this ZCTA.

Population
4,719ZIP 40831 residents
Median household income
$35,417Past 12 months, inflation adjusted
Median home value
$106,500Owner-occupied units
Median gross rent
$567Rent plus utilities, monthly
Median age
42.1 yrsAll residents
Homeownership rate
56.7%Owner-occupied households

ZIP 40831 in context

How this area compares with national benchmarks.

ZIP 40831 is a small town in Harlan County, Kentucky, with 4,719 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #211 of 779 ranked by population — larger than 73% of them. The median age here is 42.1 years against 39.1 nationally, a slightly older profile than the country as a whole. At this population the ACS sample is small, so the margin of error around every dollar figure below is wide — treat the numbers as a band, not a point, and expect them to move between annual releases without the place itself changing.

Households in ZIP 40831 earn a median of $35,417 a year, 54.9% below the national figure of $78,538. Median household income counts every pre-tax dollar arriving at an address — wages, self-employment, Social Security, pensions, interest and public assistance — for everyone living there, so multi-earner households pull the figure up even where individual pay is modest. Poverty reaches 25.7% of residents here, well above the 12.4% national rate, which is the single clearest signal in this dataset that median income here is carried by a narrow band of households.

The typical owner-occupied home in ZIP 40831 is valued at $106,500, 64.9% below the national figure, while median gross rent runs $567 a month, 59.7% below the national figure, or roughly $6,804 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 19.2% of gross pay toward that rent against the federal 30% cost-burden threshold, so renting here is cheap relative to what people here earn. The home-price-to-income ratio works out to 3×, against roughly 3.9× nationally, so buying is easier here than in the average US market. 56.7% of occupied homes are owner-occupied versus 65% nationally, so the market leans more heavily on renters. Rent is reported gross — contract rent plus tenant-paid utilities — which is why it runs above the advertised price on a listing for the same unit.

No figure on this page is estimated by us; each one comes straight from the published ACS tables for this area. Small-area estimates still carry wider margins of error than state or national figures, so check the linked ACS tables before relying on them for lending, appraisal or legal work.

Reading ZIP 40831 in context

How 40831 sits inside Harlan County and Kentucky.

ZIP 40831 is tabulated inside Harlan County, Kentucky, one of 25 ZIP areas the Census publishes for that county and 779 across Kentucky. Population sits in the small-town band, typically one main street plus the addresses that feed into it. County assignment on this page follows the largest share of the ZIP's land area, which matters where a delivery route crosses a county line: mail addressed to 40831 can be handled by a post office in a neighbouring county even though the tabulation area is filed here.

Against its own county, 40831 reports a median household income of $35,417, 3% below the $36,430 county median, and 34% below the $53,906 typical KY ZIP. Owner-occupied homes are valued at a median of $106,500, 64% above the county figure and 19% below the statewide ZIP median. Rent is reported gross — the contract amount plus tenant-paid utilities — at $567 a month, which is why it reads higher than the advertised rent on a listing for the same unit.

Kentucky charges 6% statewide, and no local sales tax is layered on top, so the state rate is the full amount collected in 40831.

Everything above comes from the Census Bureau American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates for this ZIP Code Tabulation Area, with sales tax rates traced to the state revenue agency. Five-year estimates pool sixty months of responses, so they are stable enough to compare 40831 with its neighbours but always trail the current year, and any value the Census suppressed for sample size is shown as unpublished rather than filled in with a model.

Sales tax in 40831

What a purchase inside this ZIP costs at checkout.

Rate applied
6%State base rate only
Tax on $100
$6Rounded to the dollar
Tax on $1,000
$60Before any exemptions

Kentucky levies 6% statewide with no local add-ons. Check the county page for the local component before you quote a price.

Affordability in this ZIP

Derived from the Census medians above — indicative, not an offer.

Rent burden
19%Median rent ÷ median income
Price-to-income
3.0×Home value ÷ household income
Est. mortgage
$553/mo20% down, 30-yr at 6.75%
Poverty rate
25.7%Residents below poverty line

A rent burden above 30% is the federal threshold for cost-burdened households, and a price-to-income multiple above 4× is generally considered a stretched housing market. The mortgage figure is principal and interest only — taxes, insurance and HOA dues are extra.

How 40831 compares

ZIP 40831 against the median ZIP in Harlan County and across Kentucky.

MeasureZIP 40831County medianState medianvs state
Median household income$35,417$36,430$53,906-34%
Median home value$106,500$64,750$130,850-19%
Median gross rent$567$640$791-28%
Population4,7196351,457+224%

Medians are computed across the 25 ZIP areas in Harlan County and the 779 ZIP areas in Kentucky.

Statewide rank

Where this ZIP places among all 779 Kentucky ZIP areas.

Income

richer than 12% of 641 state ZIPs

#561
Home value

above 33% of 654 state ZIPs

#440
Population

larger than 73% of 779 state ZIPs

#211

Comparable ZIP codes

Kentucky ZIP areas with almost the same household income.

ZIPCountyIncomeHome valueRent
40212Jefferson County$35,389$78,100$917
42344Muhlenberg County$35,341$80,900—
41514Pike County$35,515$84,000$629
41714Leslie County$35,219$123,700—
42647McCreary County$35,179$66,300$598
40823Harlan County$35,704$75,800$637

Nearby ZIP codes

Other ZIP codes filed under Harlan County.

Adjacent ZIP Codes

Other ZIP codes in Harlan County, Kentucky.

ZIP 40831 questions

Common questions about this ZIP code.

Where is ZIP code 40831?
ZIP 40831 lies mostly in Harlan County, Kentucky. County assignment follows the largest share of land area, so a ZIP straddling a county line is filed under its dominant county.
What sales tax do I pay in 40831?
Kentucky charges 6% statewide.
Is 40831 expensive to live in?
Median rent runs $567 a month, about 19% of median household income, and the median home is worth $106,500 — -19% against the typical Kentucky ZIP.
Is a ZCTA the same as a postal ZIP code?
Not exactly. The Census builds ZIP Code Tabulation Areas from the ZIP codes of addresses inside each census block, so a ZCTA can differ slightly from the USPS delivery route of the same number, and PO-box-only ZIPs have no ZCTA at all.

Related pages for this area.

Sources & transparency

Every figure on this page is a published estimate for ZIP Code Tabulation Area 40831, except the affordability ratios and mortgage estimate, which we derive from those medians and label as estimates.

Last reviewed December 2024. Figures are published for reference and can change; verify with the source agency before filing or contracting. How we build and check this data.