Best PlacesCarter County, KY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Carter 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.
Carter County ranks 2,891st of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Carter 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.
Carter County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Carter County ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 93% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 86% of counties
- Cheap childcare$545 a month, better than 84% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 77% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 62% of counties
Where Carter County ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 62 pleasant days a year, better than only 8% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 8% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 9% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than only 9% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 10% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Carter County
A household needs to earn about $35,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Carter County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $54,833, 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 Carter County's effective rate of 0.46%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Carter County
Carter County runs older 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 Carter County.
Who works in Carter County, and how
Work in Carter County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Carter County
Carter County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Carter County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Carter County growing, and who is moving in?
Carter County has lost about 5% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Casey County, KY.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Carter County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Carter County, month by month
Carter County sees roughly 62 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 46, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 46° | 34° | 25° |
| April | 70° | 55° | 42° |
| July | 89° | 76° | 67° |
| October | 73° | 58° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Carter County
The nearest airport, Tri-State/Milton J Ferguson Field, is about 26 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International, about 102 miles away.
The best schools in and around Carter County
Schools across Carter County average a C−, better than 26% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Carter City Elementary SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Star Elementary SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Prichard Elementary SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- West Carter Middle SchoolD+ · 27% proficient
- East Carter Middle SchoolD+ · 26% proficient
Top high schools
- East Carter County High SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Lawrence County High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- West Carter County High SchoolC− · 27% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Carter County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Carter 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 Carter County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Carter County suits
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Carter County
Is Carter County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Carter County ranks 2,891st of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on tree cover, low property taxes, and affordable childcare, 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 Carter County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $142,396. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $54,833 median income, cost of living beats 14% of counties.
Is Carter County safe?
Carter County is safer than 44% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $332 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Carter County?
July highs average about 89 degrees, and January highs near 46 with lows near 25. That works out to about 62 pleasant days a year, more than 8% of counties.
Is Carter County good for families?
Schools beat 26% of counties, crime safety beats 44%, and childcare runs $545 a month.
Compare Carter County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Carter County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Carter 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.
Carter County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Carter County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Carter County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Carter County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Carter County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Carter 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.