Best PlacesChestnut Gap, KY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Chestnut Gap, 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.
Chestnut Gap ranks 49,910th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. Education levels pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on affordable childcare.
The best neighborhoods in Chestnut Gap
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.
Chestnut Gap's strengths and weaknesses
Where Chestnut Gap ranks high
- Cheap childcare$545 a month, better than 88% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 74% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 74% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 70% of towns
- QuietBetter than 68% of towns
Where Chestnut Gap ranks low
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 1% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 2% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- Household income$15,378 median, better than only 3% of towns
- Short commute41.9 minutes each way, better than only 4% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Chestnut Gap
A household needs to earn about $17,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Chestnut Gap home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $15,378; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Chestnut Gap's effective rate of 0.52%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Chestnut Gap
Chestnut Gap 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 Chestnut Gap.
Who works in Chestnut Gap, and how
Work in Chestnut Gap centers on health care & social and utilities. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Chestnut Gap
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Chestnut Gap.
What the weather is like in Chestnut Gap, month by month
Chestnut Gap sees roughly 73 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 47, 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 | 47° | 36° | 27° |
| April | 72° | 58° | 46° |
| July | 87° | 76° | 67° |
| October | 73° | 60° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Chestnut Gap
The nearest airport, Blue Grass, is about 65 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International, about 122 miles away.
The best schools in and around Chestnut Gap
Schools across Chestnut Gap average a D−, better than 5% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Owsley County Elementary SchoolF · 10% proficient
Top high schools
- Owsley County High SchoolD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Chestnut Gap school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Chestnut Gap 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 Chestnut Gap against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Chestnut Gap
Is Chestnut Gap a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Chestnut Gap ranks 49,910th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, low property taxes, and tree cover, and lowest on education levels 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 Chestnut Gap expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $69,282. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $15,378 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Chestnut Gap safe?
Chestnut Gap is safer than 19% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $407 per resident a year.
Compare Chestnut Gap with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Chestnut Gap. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Chestnut Gap 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.
Chestnut Gap detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Chestnut Gap: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Chestnut Gap: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Chestnut Gap: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Chestnut Gap: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Chestnut Gap 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.