Best PlacesBarren County, KY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Barren County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Barren County ranks 2,656th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. The weather pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on affordable childcare.
The best neighborhoods in Barren County
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.
Barren County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Barren County ranks high
- Cheap childcare$570 a month, better than 77% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 70% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 65% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 63% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 62% of counties
Where Barren County ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 54 pleasant days a year, better than only 2% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 10% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than only 12% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 12% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 14% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Barren County
A household needs to earn about $47,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Barren County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $54,000, 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 Barren County's effective rate of 0.62%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Barren County
Barren County'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 Barren County.
Who works in Barren County, and how
Work in Barren County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Barren County
Barren County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Barren County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Barren County growing, and who is moving in?
Barren County has grown about 6% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Bowling Green, KY.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Barren County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Barren County, month by month
Barren County sees roughly 54 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 48, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 48° | 36° | 27° |
| April | 72° | 57° | 44° |
| July | 90° | 77° | 67° |
| October | 74° | 60° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Barren County
Nashville International sits about 73 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 12.6 million passengers in 2025, with 158 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Barren County
Schools across Barren County average a C, better than 28% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- North Jackson ElementaryB− · 42% proficient
- Red Cross Elementary SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
- Temple Hill Elementary SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top middle schools
- Glasgow Middle SchoolC− · 29% proficient
- Barren County Middle SchoolC− · 29% proficient
- Caverna Middle SchoolD− · 17% proficient
Top high schools
- Glasgow High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Barren County High SchoolC · 30% proficient
- Success AcademyD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Barren County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Barren County 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 Barren County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Barren County suits
Families
Schools land around the 28th percentile and crime safety beats 63%.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Barren County
Is Barren County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Barren County ranks 2,656th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on affordable childcare, clean air, and low property taxes, and lowest on the weather and thin health care access. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Barren County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $184,621. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $54,000 median income, cost of living beats 18% of counties.
Is Barren County safe?
Yes, Barren County is safer than 63% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $273 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Barren County?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 48 with lows near 27. That works out to about 54 pleasant days a year, more than 2% of counties.
Is Barren County good for families?
Schools beat 28% of counties, crime safety beats 63%, and childcare runs $570 a month.
Compare Barren County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Barren County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Barren County 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.
Barren County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Barren County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Barren County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Barren County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Barren County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Barren County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.