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Demographics of Kentucky

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Kentucky is home to approximately 4,173,405 people, which is a 3.2% increase since the year 2000. This includes a natural increase (births minus deaths) as well as an increase due to migration from other states (approximately 59,604 individuals) and immigration from outside the United States (about 27,435). These numbers of those living in Kentucky represent a variety of kinds of people regarding race, religion, and many other factors.

The residents of Kentucky are primarily white/non-Hispanic. In fact, they make up 89.3% of the population. The other 10.7% is divided among Blacks (7.3%), Hispanics (1.5%), Asians (.7%), Native Americans (.2%), and those with mixed ancestry (1.1%). The biggest change demonstrated in this estimate of the population is in the African American group which once made up a quarter of the state’s population during peak plantation times.

Kentucky is mostly a Protestant state. Even in the early Kentucky times, religious movements were very important – with famous revivals and even interdenominational meetings being very formative to the young state. Currently, 86% of Kentucky’s residents claim “Christian” as their religious affiliation; 70% of those are Protestant, a mix of Baptists, Methodists, and other denominations, and 15% of those are Roman Catholic. 14% of the population consider themselves non-religious, and the rest are a make-up of a variety of other religions.

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