WKU Impacts Bowling Green at $672 Million

Western Kentucky University has an annual economic impact of $672 million on the community, according to a new study by WKU’s Center for Applied Economics. The money that WKU spends for supplies and other items in the community and for the salaries of faculty and staff amounts to about $385 million a year. But the standard multiplier effect of 1.75 puts that annual impact at $672 million - or roughly 26 percent of the money spent in Warren County - the study said. WKU salaries account for about $252 million, or 10 percent, of all income earned in the county.