Best PlacesCottonburg, KY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Cottonburg, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Cottonburg ranks 27,688th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. Cell coverage pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on quiet.
The best neighborhoods in Cottonburg
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.
Cottonburg's strengths and weaknesses
Where Cottonburg ranks high
- QuietBetter than 77% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 75% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 74% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 73% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 71% of towns
Where Cottonburg ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 6% of towns
- Short commute37.6 minutes each way, better than only 8% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 13% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 65 pleasant days a year, better than only 17% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Cottonburg
A household needs to earn about $40,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Cottonburg home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $84,659, 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 Cottonburg'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 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 Cottonburg
Cottonburg's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Cottonburg.
Who works in Cottonburg, and how
Work in Cottonburg centers on education and construction. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 93%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Cottonburg
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Cottonburg.
What the weather is like in Cottonburg, month by month
Cottonburg sees roughly 65 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 35° | 29° |
| April | 69° | 57° | 47° |
| July | 88° | 77° | 68° |
| October | 71° | 59° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Cottonburg
The nearest airport, Blue Grass, is about 23 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International, about 92 miles away.
The best schools in and around Cottonburg
Schools across Cottonburg average a C+, better than 52% of towns.
Top middle schools
- Farristown Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
- Madison Middle SchoolC− · 29% proficient
Top high schools
- Madison Southern High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Madison Central High SchoolC · 32% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Cottonburg school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Cottonburg 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 Cottonburg against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Cottonburg
Is Cottonburg a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Cottonburg ranks 27,688th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on quiet, low crime, and low property taxes, and lowest on cell coverage and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Cottonburg expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $159,754. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $84,659 median income, cost of living beats 70% of towns.
Is Cottonburg safe?
Yes, Cottonburg is safer than 75% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $206 per resident a year.
Compare Cottonburg with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Cottonburg. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Cottonburg 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.
Cottonburg detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Cottonburg: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Cottonburg: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Cottonburg: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Cottonburg: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Cottonburg 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.