City Score: Bowling Green, KY

Metro area. The Joy Project City Score for Bowling Green, KY: the condition of its cities from public data and how the church is moving across them, with every source.

The score

Bowling Green, KY scores 64 out of 100 on the Joy Project City Score. Condition 64 (the city from public data, 60%) and Movement (how the church is moving, 40%). How the score is built.

The condition of Bowling Green, KY

  • What Bowling Green, KY is up against: 20 out of 100 — Better than 97% of cbsas
  • Where grace is growing: 54 out of 100 — Better than 60% of cbsas
  • Marriage & family: 71 out of 100 — Better than 81% of cbsas, up 24 points
  • Christian liberty: 50 out of 100 — Better than 46% of cbsas

What affected it

  • This quarter: Children with married parents up 38 percentile points (Marriage & family)
  • This quarter: Cohabiting households up 10 percentile points (Marriage & family)
  • This quarter: Drug overdose deaths up 9 percentile points (What Bowling Green, KY is up against)

Sources

  1. Violent crime: FBI Crime Data Explorer · 2025 · Kentucky · fetched Oct 28, 2026
  2. Property crime: FBI Crime Data Explorer · 2025 · Kentucky · fetched Oct 28, 2026
  3. Sexually transmitted infections: CDC NCHHSTP AtlasPlus · fetched Oct 28, 2026
  4. Drug overdose deaths: CDC NCHS, provisional county drug overdose deaths (VSRR) · 2025 · Bowling Green, KY (1 county summed) · fetched Oct 28, 2026
  5. Adult entertainment outlets: OpenStreetMap outlet counts (Metro pulse, metro_reformation_stats) · fetched Oct 28, 2026
  6. Gambling outlets: OpenStreetMap outlet counts (Metro pulse, metro_reformation_stats) · fetched Oct 28, 2026
  7. Cannabis outlets: OpenStreetMap outlet counts (Metro pulse, metro_reformation_stats) · fetched Oct 28, 2026
  8. Liquor outlets and bars: OpenStreetMap outlet counts (Metro pulse, metro_reformation_stats) · fetched Oct 28, 2026
  9. Predatory lenders: OpenStreetMap outlet counts (Metro pulse, metro_reformation_stats) · fetched Oct 28, 2026
  10. Abortion facilities (mapped): OpenStreetMap outlet counts (Metro pulse, metro_reformation_stats) · fetched Oct 28, 2026
  11. Church adherents: 2020 U.S. Religion Census · 2020 · Bowling Green, KY · fetched Oct 28, 2026
  12. Congregations: 2020 U.S. Religion Census · 2020 · Bowling Green, KY · fetched Oct 28, 2026
  13. Charitable giving: IRS Statistics of Income, county data · 2023 · Bowling Green, KY (4 counties summed) · fetched Oct 28, 2026
  14. Given to local needs in Joy: Verified in Joy (the impact ledger) · fetched Oct 28, 2026 · verified in Joy
  15. Needs met in Joy: Verified in Joy (the impact ledger) · fetched Oct 28, 2026 · verified in Joy
  16. Volunteers mobilized in Joy: Verified in Joy (the impact ledger) · fetched Oct 28, 2026 · verified in Joy
  17. New believers in Joy: Verified in Joy (the impact ledger) · fetched Oct 28, 2026 · verified in Joy
  18. Children with married parents: Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year · 2020-2024 · Bowling Green, KY (4 counties summed) · fetched Oct 28, 2026
  19. Adults 25-44 married: Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year · 2020-2024 · Bowling Green, KY (4 counties summed) · fetched Oct 28, 2026
  20. Cohabiting households: Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year · 2020-2024 · Bowling Green, KY (4 counties summed) · fetched Oct 28, 2026
  21. Divorces: Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year · 2020-2024 · Kentucky · fetched Oct 28, 2026
  22. Marriages: Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year · 2020-2024 · Kentucky · fetched Oct 28, 2026
  23. Births to unmarried mothers: CDC WONDER · fetched Oct 28, 2026
  24. Religious Liberty in the States score: Religious Liberty in the States · 2026 · Kentucky · fetched Oct 28, 2026
  25. Safeguards fully in law: Religious Liberty in the States · 2026 · Kentucky · fetched Oct 28, 2026
  26. State Religious Freedom Restoration Act: Religious Liberty in the States · 2026 · Kentucky · fetched Oct 28, 2026
  27. Anti-Christian hate crimes: FBI Crime Data Explorer · 2025 · Kentucky · fetched Oct 28, 2026

Quote it

Cite it as: Joy Project City Score v1.0, Bowling Green, KY, 2026-Q4, staging.joyproject.com/metros/bowling-green-ky. Methodology.

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