Lee’s Ford Marina, and a summer afternoon wake boarding on Lake Cumberland
 

Pulaski County
County Seat: Somerset
Somerset Motto: “Welcome Home”
Elevation:  1,000’
Eastern Time Zone
Zip Codes:  42500-42599
Phone Area Code:  606

We are a vacation community, mixed with “high-tech!”

Population and City Stats to Know: Within a 3 mile radius from the city limits our population is 30,000 and our county population is over 65,000.  This, however is very misleading because the population "swells" each day due to the city being the center for business, shopping, education, entertainment, and recreation.

Approximately 300,000 people live within a 50-60 mile radius, and in the summertime the population on Somerset alone can balloon to more than 250,000. Somerset is considered the "center point" of the region for Recreation ($180 in tourism dollars annually), Commerce, Shopping, Healthcare, and Education (The Center & Somerset Community College provide state-of-the-art distance learning allowing for up to PhD curriculum) and the Pulaski County Area Technology Center and Kentucky Regional High Growth Training Center provide “world-class” technical training to support our economies technical and engineering infrastructure.

The Somerset-Pulaski County Development Foundation continues to draw new tenants and upper-middle class-type jobs and incomes, which is resulting in a "chain reaction" effect of growth and new development, new businesses, and a growing tax base to grow schools, roads, etc.  With the technology in place and natural resources in abundance, along with a new regional airport with daily regional commercial service, the infrastructure is in place and points to compelling growth for medical professionals considering opportunities with us.  The diversity of industry and business is a recipe for long term success of our economy and its growth.

The Center is the epicenter of art/culture/entertainment for the region, and draws from 42 counties in eastern Kentucky.

Economic Initiatives are numerous, from a $1 Billion federal project to build a new Interstate alongside Somerset, our Commerce Park warehouse and shell facilities are fully occupied as companies of all types are moving to Somerset, and our Regional Airport is aggressively marketing its terminal to regional carriers for commercial service. Somerset hosts a POP site location of 48 strands of dark fiber for voice/data/video – one of a few in the US, which is an additional draw to high-tech and government companies and contractors.

The low cost of living, property and taxes, mild seasons, and "foothill" topography are more reasons for our steady growth of new residents and retirees.

Somerset is "The houseboat capital of the world," and provides a unique luxury lifestyle that allows you to be enjoying recreational fun minutes after work.

Cost of Living Comparison

(Closest city in this service area is Lexington.  The cost of living, housing and taxes,
are considerably less in Pulaski County than Lexington)

Sales Taxes:
State Sales Tax:   6%
Personal Income Tax:
Tax Rate Range:: Low - 2.0%; High - 6.0%
Income Brackets:  Lowest - $3,000; Highest - $75,000
Number of Brackets:  5
For further information, visit the revenue.ky.gov site or call 502-564-4581.
Real Estate Tax: Considered "extremely low" and Kentucky ranks #3 lowest in US. (see Real Estate)

Our State:

State of Kentucky Flag

Placed on a navy blue field is the seal and words "Commonwealth of Kentucky." The two people on the seal, a pioneer and a statesman, represent all the people. They are acting out the meaning of Kentucky's motto: "United We Stand; Divided We Fall". Sprays of goldenrod, which is now an endangered species, extend in a half circle around the picture.

15th State Admitted to Union in 1792.
Nickname:  Based on the Iroquois Indian word "Ken-tah-ten," meaning "land of tomorrow" and known today as "the Bluegrass state."
State Flower:  Goldenrod Solidago altissima
State Tree:  Yellow-poplar Liriodendron tulipifera  
State Bird:  Cardinal
Capital City:  Frankfurt  
Area and US Rank:  40411 sq.mi, 37th   Land 39732 sq. mi., 36th   Water 679 sq.mi., 38th
Highest Elevation:  Black Mountain; 4,145 feet, in Harlan County, southeast Kentucky, near Virginia state line
Lowest Elevation:  Mississippi River; 257 feet
Population: 4,041,769; Ranks 25^th from 00 Census
Approx Racial Breakdown (2005):  White 90%, Black 7.5%, Asian 1%, Hispanic 2%

Kentucky's Topography: Mountainous in east; rounded hills of the Knobs in the north; Bluegrass, heart of the state; wooded rocky hillsides of the Pennroyal; western coal fields; the fertile Purchase in the southwest.

History:  Somerset was first settled in 1798 by Thomas Hansford and several members of the Jasper family and it received its name from Somerset County, New Jersey, the place where some of the settlers once lived. Somerset became the county seat of Pulaski County in 1802 and was incorporated as a city in 1887.

On January 19, 1862, the first major battle in the Western theatre of the American Civil War took place right here in Somerset, a Union Victory and now a National Park. Mill Springs Visitors Center is featured in Life in Pulaski County.

John Sherman Cooper is honored in our downtown square

One of Somerset’s most famous sons, John Sherman Cooper graduated from Yale, where he was captain of the basketball team, and a member of Skull & Bones; in 1923 he was voted "most likely to succeed” by his fellow graduates.  He went on to Harvard Law School and was admitted to law practice in 1928.

A 3-time senator, Cooper was considered a liberal Republican, Cooper was one of the first Republicans in the Senate to denounce Senator Joseph R. McCarthy of Wisconsin for the tactics of McCarthy's anti-Communist campaign.  Cooper voted for many pieces of civil rights legislation, including the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Cooper became a staunch opponent of the Vietnam War, and in 1970 he joined with Democratic Senator Frank Church of Idaho in drafting the Cooper-Church Amendment, which was aimed at barring further United States military action in Cambodia. Cooper's service in the Senate continued until his retirement in 1973.  Cooper also served on the Warren Commission which investigated the assassination of President Kennedy.

The completion of Lake Cumberland in the 1950's transformed Somerset from a sleepy rural community into one of the largest recreation centers in Kentucky drawing millions of visitors yearly, the bulk of which come in summertime.  More than $100 million in tourism dollars descend into Somerset each year.

Choose to live here – get lots of these!

Resources:

Wikipedia
Pulaski Chamber of Commerce