Candidate for Campbell County Judge Executive, Kevin Sell, released a press release last week after the Kentucky Center for Education and Workforce Statistics released its 2014-15 Kentucky County Profile Report which complied statistics on each Kentucky County relating to income, education and employment data.
These reports showed that when compared to Boone and Kenton Counties, Campbell County has the:
· Lowest Median Household Income
· Lowest Per Capita Income
· Highest Unemployment Rate
· Highest Rate of Residents Without a High School Diploma or Equivalent
· Lowest Rate of Public High School Students Not Attending College
· Lowest Rate of Residents Attaining a Bachelor’s Degree of Higher
Current Judge Executive, Steve Pendery, and his campaign team responded to the overall theme that Campbell County is trailing Kenton and Boone in many economic categories for growth.
Here’s what Pendery’s team said:
Mr. Sell
says Campbell County is falling behind, that “there was a time not long ago
when Campbell County was a leader in these areas.” That is not true.
The same
source of statistics he used instead shows that dating to the time when Steve
Pendery was first elected, we have been closing a gap that historically has
existed. Campbell County has gained more ground in all the educational stats
since the year 2000 than Kenton or Boone. There has been a big gain on the
financial side too. The median income for Campbell County was $41,903 in 2000,
$2,003 behind Kenton at that time. It is now $53,580, just $320 behind Kenton
County.
Almost
every one of the 120 counties in Kentucky trail Boone County; Boone is in the
top two or three in just about every statistical category, probably making it
number 1 overall. But these days the typical Campbell Countian is virtually
indistinguishable from the typical Kenton Countian financially and
educationally.
The only
statistics quoted (Mr. Sell’s release) are the ones that seem to show we trail
Kenton and Boone. According to the same study, we have fewer people living in
poverty than Kenton, fewer without medical insurance, and fewer eligible for
Medicaid. In every single measure of high school performance, Campbell leads
Kenton: ACT test scores in math, English, reading and science, ready for
college by graduation percentages, ready for career by graduation, and grade
point average. These stats suggest things are getting better, not worse,
reinforcing the 2000 to 2014 catch up trend I mentioned above. We also have a
higher percentage of graduate and professional degrees than Kenton County.
Finally,
the truth is, where we supposedly lag behind Kenton County, the differences are
usually less than 1% and within the margin of error of the study. Campbell
ranks 9th out of 120 counties statewide in Median income; the $320 a year
difference with Kenton County, works out to 1/2 of one percent. Our
county ranks 7th in the percentage of adults with an associate’s degree or
higher, two tenths of one percent behind Kenton County – that’s about 100 fewer
diplomas in a county of 90,000 people. The current unemployment rate difference
comes to 56 jobs out of a workforce of 28,000, though our unemployment rate is
not always higher than Kenton’s. And while every single job is important,
remember these are estimates, not an actual count.
There are
120 counties in Kentucky. All three Northern Kentucky counties rank in the top
ten in the median income and the educational attainment categories charted in
the study. From another study focused on jobs, all three counties were in
the top ten (out of 120 Kentucky counties) in net new jobs produced between
2000-2010, the most recent available stats, making Northern Kentucky the
leading job creator in the state. Compared to other areas of the state, as a
group we are not just doing well, we are the best.
Campbell
County beats the state and national averages in all employment and income
measures in the study, including median income and unemployment. Our per capita
income is slightly less than the national average only because our family size
is higher – and our per person income is much higher than Kentucky’s average.
The
truth is, Campbell County has performed remarkably well, especially considering
we don’t have an international airport, high expressway miles with lots of
interchanges, flat land out of the flood plain or sprawling industrial parks in
the south end of our county, like Kenton and Boone. We have balanced growth. We
are preserving green space and agriculture because we value it so highly. Our
growth is happening our way, in places where it is wanted and needed,
with revitalization of the inner cities and companies tied to NKU leading the
way.
