About Northern Kentucky

There are many ways to describe " Northern Kentucky". Geographically, Northern Kentucky is the three northernmost counties of Kentucky (Boone, Campbell and Kenton), or you could say Northern Kentucky is the southern side of Cincinnati. Economically, Northern Kentucky is described as the northern tip of the Golden Triangle of Kentucky, the area comprised of Northern Kentucky, Lexington and Louisville. The Golden Triangle is the heart of Kentucky's business and economic activity. The Golden Triangle has a population of 2.3 million; which is 54% of Kentucky's population or 22% of the state's land area.

As an integral part of the Triangle, each of the three counties of Boone, Campbell and Kenton; provide many recreational opportunities from award winning parks and green space to the professional sports, cultural events and a wide variety of shopping. And, our good neighbor, Cincinnati is just 10 minutes away from many of our communities. Northern Kentucky/Greater Cincinnati is among "America's 50 Hottest Cities," according to a recent report released by Expansion Management.  How do we describe Northern Kentucky – it is a distinct region within the Cincinnati metropolitan area. Northern Kentucky is the equivalent of living in a “large” small town where the cost of living, land costs, buying a home, proximity to rail, highway and air transportation all keep getting better and better!

Since 1987, after Delta Air Lines established hub operations at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, companies like Toyota's Engineering and Manufacturing NA HQ, Fidelity Investments, WILD Flavors, and Ticona have found Northern Kentucky to be very profitable for business operations.

Download a profile of Northern Kentucky

Download a table and graph of Population Growth

Major Employers

(Additional information provided in Community Data, Employers/Workforce)

Major Northern Kentucky Non-Manufacturers (Top Ten Ranked by Headcount)
Company	Headcount	Product
Internal Revenue Service	6,385	Tax Return Processing
Fidelity Investments	4,500	Regional HQ, Investments
COMAIR	4,200	HQ, Airline
Delta Air Lines	2,950	Regional Hub, Airline
Citi	2,900	Regional HQ, Credit Cards
Toyota Motor Eng. & Mfg., NA Inc.	1,700	NA HQ, R&D, Service
Gap Inc.	1,300	Clothing Distribution
Thomson Learning	1,000	Textbooks
Castellini Group of Companies	595	Fresh Produce
AC Nielsen	520	Market Research
(Source: Business Courier, 2007 Book of Lists, Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, Tri-County Economic Development Corp.)

About the Northern Kentucky Economy

As the graph indicates, Northern Kentucky experienced substantially lower unemployment during the 1990 through 2005 than the Cincinnati Core Based Statistical Area (CBSA), Kentucky or the United States. The lower unemployment rate is indicative of a stable economy.

More than 42,000 new jobs were added in the period 1990 – 2006, with a total capital investment of $4.3 Billion.

While Northern Kentucky is a submarket of the Cincinnati CBSA, we are less susceptible to downturns in the business cycles, that is to say our economy does not decline as much during those periods. This in turn allows Northern Kentucky to grow quickly in boom times.