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Towns / Kentucky

Sorgho, Kentucky

Sorgho is an unincorporated community of about 3,000 people in Daviess County, Kentucky, in the Owensboro area. It has no city government of its own: local services come from the county, or in some states from the town or township. A typical home costs about 2.3 years of the typical household's income, compared with 4.1 across the U.S. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Louisville/Jefferson County, is about 90 miles away as the crow flies.

Suburb of Owensboro

Population
2,960
Census survey, 2020-24
Typical home, 2020-24
$275,800
Daviess County prices up 15% since 2022
Household income
$121,579
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Owensboro area
88.6
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
8 miles
Owensboro, KY
To Louisville/Jefferson County
90 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 11.4% below the U.S. average in the Owensboro metro area.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 2.3 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhoodThe FBI doesn't publish crime figures for unincorporated communities. Call the county sheriff's office (or the town or township police, where there is one) and ask what calls they get most.
  • Schools in town1 public school. No public high school in town: the nearest is Apollo High School, about 4 miles away.
  • A hospital close byOwensboro Health Regional Hospital in Owensboro, about 8 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityLouisville/Jefferson County is about 90 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Sorgho meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

What kind of town

A suburb, not a stand-alone small town

Sorgho runs into the built-up area around Owensboro (Census Bureau, 2020 urban areas). We include suburbs under 20,000 people because some still feel like small towns, but daily life here is closer to the suburbs than to the towns Frank and Dave's book describes. Weigh it against towns farther out.

The book sorts small towns into six types. These labels come only from the numbers; take the quiz to see which type fits your family.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$275,800U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 15%Daviess County, 2022 to 2025
Typical household income
$121,579U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
93%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$1,980 a yearKentucky: $1,544
Homes built before 1940
0%U.S.: 12%
Vacation and seasonal homes
0%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
88.6U.S. average = 100 (the Owensboro metro area)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 15% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Owensboro metro area, not Sorgho alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2020-2024 Census survey
2,960The Census Bureau makes yearly estimates only for incorporated towns
Median age
33.8 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
9%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
37%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
34%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
6%U.S.: 6%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Schools, health care and social services (29%); transportation, warehousing and utilities (11%)
Unemployment rate
2%U.S.: 5%
Work from home
6%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
8%U.S.: 12%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Owensboro Health Regional Hospital, Owensboro, KY, about 8 miles away. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 2 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

1 public school in Sorgho, run by Daviess County. The nearest public high school is Apollo High School, about 4 miles away.

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on Kentucky's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Internet

Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet
65%U.S.: 76%

Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Weather

January average low
26°F
July average high
87°F
Days 90°F or hotter
34 a year
Nights at or below freezing
83 a year
Rain and melted snow
47.7 inches a year
Snow
6 inches a year
Elevation
394 feet

Weather stations: Calhoun Lock 2 (15 miles away) and Owensboro 3E (9 miles away, rain and snow). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Owensboro Health Regional Hospital, Owensboro, Louisville/Jefferson County.

Daviess County is in a metro area of fewer than 250,000 people (USDA rural-urban code 3, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial28 miles

Read about Sorgho's history on Wikipedia.

Know Sorgho?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Smaller places

  • Moseleyville, KY (unincorporated)269 people, 5 miles
  • Stanley, KY (unincorporated)448 people, 5 miles
  • St. Joseph, KY (unincorporated)144 people, 7 miles
  • Hatfield, IN (unincorporated)497 people, 11 miles
  • Philpot, KY (unincorporated)1,036 people, 12 miles
  • Reo, IN (unincorporated)465 people, 13 miles
  • Beech Grove, KY (unincorporated)291 people, 13 miles
  • Spottsville, KY (unincorporated)194 people, 14 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.