Best PlacesCalloway County, KY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Calloway 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.
Calloway County ranks 2,220th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores best on short commutes, and car insurance costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Calloway 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.
Calloway County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Calloway County ranks high
- Short commute17.3 minutes each way, better than 90% of counties
- Cheap childcare$503 a month, better than 90% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 80% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 68% of counties
- School gradeB−, better than 66% of counties
Where Calloway County ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 14% of counties
- Household income$56,004 median, better than only 18% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 18% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 19% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 73 pleasant days a year, better than only 26% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Calloway County
A household needs to earn about $47,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Calloway County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $56,004, 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 Calloway County's effective rate of 0.60%, 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 Calloway County
Calloway County runs younger than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Calloway County.
Who works in Calloway County, and how
Work in Calloway County centers on education and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 11%
Life in Calloway County
Calloway County has more parkland per resident than 68% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Calloway County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Calloway County growing, and who is moving in?
Calloway County has grown about 1% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from St Louis, MO.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Calloway County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Calloway County, month by month
Calloway County sees roughly 73 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 45, with lows near 30. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45° | 37° | 30° |
| April | 70° | 59° | 49° |
| July | 89° | 79° | 71° |
| October | 73° | 61° | 52° |
Flying in and out of Calloway County
The nearest airport, Barkley Regional, is about 40 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Nashville International, about 97 miles away.
The best schools in and around Calloway County
Schools across Calloway County average a B−, better than 66% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Southwest Calloway Elementary SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Murray Elementary SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- North Calloway Elementary SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top middle schools
- Murray Middle SchoolA− · 55% proficient
- Calloway County Middle SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Murray High SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Calloway County High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Calloway County Alternative ProgramD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Calloway County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Calloway 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 Calloway County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Calloway County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 6% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Calloway County
Is Calloway County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Calloway County ranks 2,220th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on short commutes, affordable childcare, and an educated workforce, and lowest on car insurance costs and low incomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Calloway County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $185,195. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $56,004 median income, cost of living beats 27% of counties.
Is Calloway County safe?
Calloway County is safer than 44% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $328 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Calloway County?
July highs average about 89 degrees, and January highs near 45 with lows near 30. That works out to about 73 pleasant days a year, more than 26% of counties.
Is Calloway County good for families?
Schools beat 66% of counties, crime safety beats 44%, and childcare runs $503 a month.
Compare Calloway County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Calloway County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Calloway 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.
Calloway County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Calloway County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Calloway County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Calloway County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Calloway County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Calloway 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.