Best PlacesBardwell, KY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Bardwell, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Bardwell ranks 39,615th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. Health outcomes pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on walkability.
The best neighborhoods in Bardwell
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
Bardwell's strengths and weaknesses
Where Bardwell ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 84% of towns
- Cheap childcare$591 a month, better than 79% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 67% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 67% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 66% of towns
Where Bardwell ranks low
- Health outlookBetter than only 5% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 58 pleasant days a year, better than only 6% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 11% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 14% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Bardwell
A household needs to earn about $38,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Bardwell home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $64,207, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Bardwell's effective rate of 0.59%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Bardwell
Bardwell's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Bardwell.
Who works in Bardwell, and how
Work in Bardwell centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 94%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Bardwell
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Bardwell.
What the weather is like in Bardwell, month by month
Bardwell sees roughly 58 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 36° | 29° |
| April | 70° | 59° | 49° |
| July | 89° | 79° | 71° |
| October | 73° | 60° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Bardwell
The nearest airport, Barkley Regional, is about 18 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 138 miles away.
The best schools in and around Bardwell
Schools across Bardwell average a C−, better than 18% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Carlisle County Elementary SchoolC · 33% proficient
Top middle schools
- Carlisle County Middle SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Carlisle County High SchoolD · 18% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Bardwell school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Bardwell measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Bardwell against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Bardwell
Is Bardwell a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Bardwell ranks 39,615th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on walkability, affordable childcare, and a strong job market, and lowest on health outcomes and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Bardwell expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $149,221. The overall cost of living runs about 25% below the national average. Set against a $64,207 median income, cost of living beats 57% of towns.
Is Bardwell safe?
Bardwell is safer than 54% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $261 per resident a year.
Compare Bardwell with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Bardwell. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Bardwell represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Bardwell detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Bardwell: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Bardwell: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Bardwell: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Bardwell: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Bardwell detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.