Data / Rankings / Frequent mental distress in adults, local model estimate / Counties in Kentucky

Counties in Kentucky by frequent mental distress in adults, local model estimate

Wolfe County had the highest frequent mental distress in adults, local model estimate of 120 counties in 2021, at 22.7%. Oldham County had the lowest, at 14.2%. The median was 18.7%. Source: the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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Highest22.7Wolfe County
Lowest14.2Oldham County
Median18.7120 counties

Map of counties, 2021

Adair County: 18.9 %Allen County: 18.6 %Anderson County: 17.1 %Ballard County: 17.7 %Barren County: 19 %Bath County: 19.2 %Bell County: 21.1 %Boone County: 15.5 %Bourbon County: 17.4 %Boyd County: 17.9 %Boyle County: 17.4 %Bracken County: 18.4 %Breathitt County: 20.6 %Breckinridge County: 18.3 %Bullitt County: 17.5 %Butler County: 18.6 %Caldwell County: 17.8 %Calloway County: 19.2 %Campbell County: 16.4 %Carlisle County: 18.7 %Carroll County: 19.9 %Carter County: 20.1 %Casey County: 20.4 %Christian County: 20.2 %Clark County: 17.4 %Clay County: 21.7 %Clinton County: 19.9 %Crittenden County: 18 %Cumberland County: 19.2 %Daviess County: 17.6 %Edmonson County: 18.9 %Elliott County: 19.5 %Estill County: 20.1 %Fayette County: 16.6 %Fleming County: 18.9 %Floyd County: 20.9 %Franklin County: 16.8 %Fulton County: 19.1 %Gallatin County: 19.2 %Garrard County: 17.7 %Grant County: 18.3 %Graves County: 18.1 %Grayson County: 19.7 %Green County: 19.4 %Greenup County: 17.7 %Hancock County: 17.8 %Hardin County: 17.4 %Harlan County: 21.7 %Harrison County: 18 %Hart County: 20 %Henderson County: 18 %Henry County: 18.6 %Hickman County: 17.1 %Hopkins County: 18.1 %Jackson County: 21.4 %Jefferson County: 16.8 %Jessamine County: 17.1 %Johnson County: 19.8 %Kenton County: 16.2 %Knott County: 21.1 %Knox County: 22 %Larue County: 18.3 %Laurel County: 19.4 %Lawrence County: 19.8 %Lee County: 21.5 %Leslie County: 21.1 %Letcher County: 20.5 %Lewis County: 21.4 %Lincoln County: 19.2 %Livingston County: 17.5 %Logan County: 18.4 %Lyon County: 16 %McCracken County: 17.5 %McCreary County: 21.7 %McLean County: 17 %Madison County: 19.1 %Magoffin County: 21.4 %Marion County: 18.7 %Marshall County: 16.4 %Martin County: 19.6 %Mason County: 18 %Meade County: 17.8 %Menifee County: 19.8 %Mercer County: 16.9 %Metcalfe County: 18.7 %Monroe County: 19.2 %Montgomery County: 18.6 %Morgan County: 19.4 %Muhlenberg County: 18.4 %Nelson County: 16.9 %Nicholas County: 19.8 %Ohio County: 18.4 %Oldham County: 14.2 %Owen County: 17.7 %Owsley County: 20.2 %Pendleton County: 18.1 %Perry County: 20 %Pike County: 19.6 %Powell County: 19.1 %Pulaski County: 18.9 %Robertson County: 17.9 %Rockcastle County: 19.8 %Rowan County: 21.6 %Russell County: 18.5 %Scott County: 16.8 %Shelby County: 16.6 %Simpson County: 17.7 %Spencer County: 16.1 %Taylor County: 18.3 %Todd County: 19.1 %Trigg County: 16.7 %Trimble County: 17.8 %Union County: 18.9 %Warren County: 18.7 %Washington County: 17.2 %Wayne County: 19.2 %Webster County: 18.8 %Whitley County: 20.5 %Wolfe County: 22.7 %Woodford County: 15.1 %
  • Under 17
  • 17 to 18
  • 18 to 19
  • 19 to 20
  • 20 and over
%, 2021. Source: CDC, PLACES: Local Data for Better Health, County Data (swc5-untb, fu4u-a9bh, h3ej-a9ec and later releases), frequent mental distress in adults, crude prevalence. Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

Top 40 counties, 2021

Wolfe County: 22.7 %Wolfe County22.7Knox County: 22 %Knox County22Clay County: 21.7 %Clay County21.7Harlan County: 21.7 %Harlan County21.7McCreary County: 21.7 %McCreary County21.7Rowan County: 21.6 %Rowan County21.6Lee County: 21.5 %Lee County21.5Jackson County: 21.4 %Jackson County21.4Lewis County: 21.4 %Lewis County21.4Magoffin County: 21.4 %Magoffin County21.4Bell County: 21.1 %Bell County21.1Knott County: 21.1 %Knott County21.1Leslie County: 21.1 %Leslie County21.1Floyd County: 20.9 %Floyd County20.9Breathitt County: 20.6 %Breathitt County20.6Letcher County: 20.5 %Letcher County20.5Whitley County: 20.5 %Whitley County20.5Casey County: 20.4 %Casey County20.4Christian County: 20.2 %Christian County20.2Owsley County: 20.2 %Owsley County20.2Carter County: 20.1 %Carter County20.1Estill County: 20.1 %Estill County20.1Hart County: 20 %Hart County20Perry County: 20 %Perry County20Carroll County: 19.9 %Carroll County19.9Clinton County: 19.9 %Clinton County19.9Johnson County: 19.8 %Johnson County19.8Lawrence County: 19.8 %Lawrence County19.8Menifee County: 19.8 %Menifee County19.8Nicholas County: 19.8 %Nicholas County19.8Rockcastle County: 19.8 %Rockcastle County19.8Grayson County: 19.7 %Grayson County19.7Martin County: 19.6 %Martin County19.6Pike County: 19.6 %Pike County19.6Elliott County: 19.5 %Elliott County19.5Green County: 19.4 %Green County19.4Laurel County: 19.4 %Laurel County19.4Morgan County: 19.4 %Morgan County19.4Bath County: 19.2 %Bath County19.2Calloway County: 19.2 %Calloway County19.2Wolfe County: 22.7 %Wolfe County22.7Knox County: 22 %Knox County22Clay County: 21.7 %Clay County21.7Harlan County: 21.7 %Harlan County21.7McCreary County: 21.7 %McCreary County21.7Rowan County: 21.6 %Rowan County21.6Lee County: 21.5 %Lee County21.5Jackson County: 21.4 %Jackson County21.4Lewis County: 21.4 %Lewis County21.4Magoffin County: 21.4 %Magoffin County21.4Bell County: 21.1 %Bell County21.1Knott County: 21.1 %Knott County21.1Leslie County: 21.1 %Leslie County21.1Floyd County: 20.9 %Floyd County20.9Breathitt County: 20.6 %Breathitt County20.6Letcher County: 20.5 %Letcher County20.5Whitley County: 20.5 %Whitley County20.5Casey County: 20.4 %Casey County20.4Christian County: 20.2 %Christian County20.2Owsley County: 20.2 %Owsley County20.2Carter County: 20.1 %Carter County20.1Estill County: 20.1 %Estill County20.1Hart County: 20 %Hart County20Perry County: 20 %Perry County20Carroll County: 19.9 %Carroll County19.9Clinton County: 19.9 %Clinton County19.9Johnson County: 19.8 %Johnson County19.8Lawrence County: 19.8 %Lawrence County19.8Menifee County: 19.8 %Menifee County19.8Nicholas County: 19.8 %Nicholas County19.8Rockcastle County: 19.8 %Rockcastle County19.8Grayson County: 19.7 %Grayson County19.7Martin County: 19.6 %Martin County19.6Pike County: 19.6 %Pike County19.6Elliott County: 19.5 %Elliott County19.5Green County: 19.4 %Green County19.4Laurel County: 19.4 %Laurel County19.4Morgan County: 19.4 %Morgan County19.4Bath County: 19.2 %Bath County19.2Calloway County: 19.2 %Calloway County19.2
%. Source: CDC, PLACES: Local Data for Better Health, County Data (swc5-untb, fu4u-a9bh, h3ej-a9ec and later releases), frequent mental distress in adults, crude prevalence. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCounties2021 (%)
1Wolfe County22.7
2Knox County22
3Clay County21.7
3Harlan County21.7
3McCreary County21.7
6Rowan County21.6
7Lee County21.5
8Jackson County21.4
8Lewis County21.4
8Magoffin County21.4
11Bell County21.1
11Knott County21.1
11Leslie County21.1
14Floyd County20.9
15Breathitt County20.6
16Letcher County20.5
16Whitley County20.5
18Casey County20.4
19Christian County20.2
19Owsley County20.2
21Carter County20.1
21Estill County20.1
23Hart County20
23Perry County20
25Carroll County19.9
25Clinton County19.9
27Johnson County19.8
27Lawrence County19.8
27Menifee County19.8
27Nicholas County19.8
27Rockcastle County19.8
32Grayson County19.7
33Martin County19.6
33Pike County19.6
35Elliott County19.5
36Green County19.4
36Laurel County19.4
36Morgan County19.4
39Bath County19.2
39Calloway County19.2
39Cumberland County19.2
39Gallatin County19.2
39Lincoln County19.2
39Monroe County19.2
39Wayne County19.2
46Fulton County19.1
46Madison County19.1
46Powell County19.1
46Todd County19.1
50Barren County19
51Adair County18.9
51Edmonson County18.9
51Fleming County18.9
51Pulaski County18.9
51Union County18.9
56Webster County18.8
57Carlisle County18.7
57Marion County18.7
57Metcalfe County18.7
57Warren County18.7
61Allen County18.6
61Butler County18.6
61Henry County18.6
61Montgomery County18.6
65Russell County18.5
66Bracken County18.4
66Logan County18.4
66Muhlenberg County18.4
66Ohio County18.4
70Breckinridge County18.3
70Grant County18.3
70Larue County18.3
70Taylor County18.3
74Graves County18.1
74Hopkins County18.1
74Pendleton County18.1
77Crittenden County18
77Harrison County18
77Henderson County18
77Mason County18
81Boyd County17.9
81Robertson County17.9
83Caldwell County17.8
83Hancock County17.8
83Meade County17.8
83Trimble County17.8
87Ballard County17.7
87Garrard County17.7
87Greenup County17.7
87Owen County17.7
87Simpson County17.7
92Daviess County17.6
93Bullitt County17.5
93Livingston County17.5
93McCracken County17.5
96Bourbon County17.4
96Boyle County17.4
96Clark County17.4
96Hardin County17.4
100Washington County17.2
101Anderson County17.1
101Hickman County17.1
101Jessamine County17.1
104McLean County17
105Mercer County16.9
105Nelson County16.9
107Franklin County16.8
107Jefferson County16.8
107Scott County16.8
110Trigg County16.7
111Fayette County16.6
111Shelby County16.6
113Campbell County16.4
113Marshall County16.4
115Kenton County16.2
116Spencer County16.1
117Lyon County16
118Boone County15.5
119Woodford County15.1
120Oldham County14.2

Other periods

About this ranking

Percentage of adults who say their mental health was not good on 14 or more of the past 30 days. Model-based estimate for adults aged 18 and over from CDC PLACES. Crude prevalence, not age-adjusted.

US counties and cities (incorporated places of 10,000 or more). CDC PLACES combines Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) answers with local population data through multilevel regression and poststratification, so a county or city value is a model estimate, not a survey count. The year is the BRFSS survey year, not the release year. CDC says the method does not support tracking change in a place over time, and each annual release can change the model, so values for different years are not strictly comparable. A state is missing in a year when its BRFSS data did not meet standards (Kentucky and Pennsylvania in 2023, Florida in 2021). Connecticut counties appear as its nine planning regions from 2022; its eight former counties are not served. City values for 2021 come from the 2023 release, built on 2010 Census place boundaries; later years use 2020 boundaries.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the counties are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). PLACES: Local Data for Better Health, County Data (swc5-untb, fu4u-a9bh, h3ej-a9ec and later releases), frequent mental distress in adults, crude prevalence. https://www.cdc.gov/places/. Retrieved 2026-10-12. These data are available free from CDC. Use does not imply endorsement by CDC, ATSDR, HHS or the United States Government.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2025). PLACES: Local Data for Better Health, County Data (swc5-untb, fu4u-a9bh, h3ej-a9ec and later releases), frequent mental distress in adults, crude prevalence (Counties in Kentucky by frequent mental distress in adults, local model estimate, 2021) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www.cdc.gov/places/

MLA 9

PLACES: Local Data for Better Health, County Data (swc5-untb, fu4u-a9bh, h3ej-a9ec and later releases), frequent mental distress in adults, crude prevalence, Counties in Kentucky by frequent mental distress in adults, local model estimate, 2021. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4 Dec. 2025, https://www.cdc.gov/places/. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/adult-frequent-mental-distress-rate-county-estimate/kentucky-counties?period=2021. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2025. PLACES: Local Data for Better Health, County Data (swc5-untb, fu4u-a9bh, h3ej-a9ec and later releases), frequent mental distress in adults, crude prevalence. Counties in Kentucky by frequent mental distress in adults, local model estimate, 2021. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www.cdc.gov/places/. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/adult-frequent-mental-distress-rate-county-estimate/kentucky-counties?period=2021.

Harvard

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2025) PLACES: Local Data for Better Health, County Data (swc5-untb, fu4u-a9bh, h3ej-a9ec and later releases), frequent mental distress in adults, crude prevalence, Counties in Kentucky by frequent mental distress in adults, local model estimate, 2021 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/places/, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/adult-frequent-mental-distress-rate-county-estimate/kentucky-counties?period=2021 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{centers_counties_in_kentucky_by_2021,
  author = {{Centers for Disease Control and Prevention}},
  title = {{PLACES: Local Data for Better Health, County Data (swc5-untb, fu4u-a9bh, h3ej-a9ec and later releases), frequent mental distress in adults, crude prevalence: Counties in Kentucky by frequent mental distress in adults, local model estimate, 2021}},
  year = {2025},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www.cdc.gov/places/},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/adult-frequent-mental-distress-rate-county-estimate/kentucky-counties?period=2021. Publisher attribution: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). PLACES: Local Data for Better Health, County Data (swc5-untb, fu4u-a9bh, h3ej-a9ec and later releases), frequent mental distress in adults, crude prevalence. https://www.cdc.gov/places/. Retrieved 2026-10-12. These data are available free from CDC. Use does not imply endorsement by CDC, ATSDR, HHS or the United States Government.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
TI  - PLACES: Local Data for Better Health, County Data (swc5-untb, fu4u-a9bh, h3ej-a9ec and later releases), frequent mental distress in adults, crude prevalence: Counties in Kentucky by frequent mental distress in adults, local model estimate, 2021
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/12/04
PB  - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www.cdc.gov/places/
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/adult-frequent-mental-distress-rate-county-estimate/kentucky-counties?period=2021
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/adult-frequent-mental-distress-rate-county-estimate/kentucky-counties?period=2021.
N1  - Publisher attribution: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). PLACES: Local Data for Better Health, County Data (swc5-untb, fu4u-a9bh, h3ej-a9ec and later releases), frequent mental distress in adults, crude prevalence. https://www.cdc.gov/places/. Retrieved 2026-10-12. These data are available free from CDC. Use does not imply endorsement by CDC, ATSDR, HHS or the United States Government.
ER  -
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Rank Counties in Kentucky by frequent mental distress in adults, local model estimate using official data, and cite the source.
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Questions

Which county has the highest frequent mental distress in adults, local model estimate?

Wolfe County, with 22.7% in 2021, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Which county has the lowest frequent mental distress in adults, local model estimate?

Oldham County, with 14.2% in 2021.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, PLACES: Local Data for Better Health, County Data (swc5-untb, fu4u-a9bh, h3ej-a9ec and later releases), frequent mental distress in adults, crude prevalence. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Frequent mental distress in adults, local model estimate: other rankings

Counties in Kentucky: more rankings