Best PlacesCarlisle County, KY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Carlisle 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.
Carlisle County ranks 2,572nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Biking pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on low property taxes.
The best neighborhoods in Carlisle 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.
Carlisle County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Carlisle County ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 76% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 75% of counties
- Cheap childcare$591 a month, better than 74% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 68% of counties
- QuietBetter than 67% of counties
Where Carlisle County ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 3% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 59 pleasant days a year, better than only 6% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than only 6% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 10% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 13% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Carlisle County
A household needs to earn about $41,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Carlisle County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $64,627, 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 Carlisle County's effective rate of 0.54%, 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 Carlisle County
Carlisle 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 Carlisle County.
Who works in Carlisle County, and how
Work in Carlisle County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 93%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Carlisle County
Carlisle County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 75% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Carlisle County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Carlisle County growing, and who is moving in?
Carlisle County has lost about 4% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Calloway County, KY.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Carlisle County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Carlisle County, month by month
Carlisle County sees roughly 59 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 48, with lows near 28. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 48° | 37° | 28° |
| April | 73° | 59° | 46° |
| July | 91° | 80° | 70° |
| October | 77° | 61° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Carlisle County
The nearest airport, Barkley Regional, is about 17 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Nashville International, about 136 miles away.
The best schools in and around Carlisle County
Schools across Carlisle County average a C−, better than 17% of counties.
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 Carlisle County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Carlisle 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 Carlisle County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Carlisle County
Is Carlisle County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Carlisle County ranks 2,572nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low property taxes, low crime, and affordable childcare, and lowest on biking and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Carlisle County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $162,258. The overall cost of living runs about 25% below the national average. Set against a $64,627 median income, cost of living beats 67% of counties.
Is Carlisle County safe?
Yes, Carlisle County is safer than 75% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $245 per resident a year.
Compare Carlisle County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Carlisle County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Carlisle 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.
Carlisle County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Carlisle County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Carlisle County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Carlisle County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Carlisle County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Carlisle 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.