Best PlacesCynthiana, KY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Cynthiana, 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.
Cynthiana ranks 31,465th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on walkability by a wide margin, and the schools rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Cynthiana
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.
Cynthiana's strengths and weaknesses
Where Cynthiana ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 90% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 86% of towns
- BikingBetter than 81% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 75% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 72% of towns
Where Cynthiana ranks low
- School gradeD+, better than only 14% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 14% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 16% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 18% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 21% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Cynthiana
A household needs to earn about $51,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Cynthiana home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $65,570, 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 Cynthiana's effective rate of 0.55%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Cynthiana
Cynthiana'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 Cynthiana.
Who works in Cynthiana, and how
Work in Cynthiana centers on manufacturing and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Cynthiana
Cynthiana has more restaurants and bars per resident than 78% of towns and more parkland per resident than 88% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Cynthiana and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Cynthiana, month by month
Cynthiana sees roughly 70 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 43, 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 | 43° | 34° | 27° |
| April | 67° | 55° | 45° |
| July | 86° | 76° | 67° |
| October | 70° | 58° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Cynthiana
The nearest airport, Blue Grass, is about 30 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International, about 49 miles away.
The best schools in and around Cynthiana
Schools across Cynthiana average a D+, better than 14% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Cane Ridge Elementary SchoolC− · 25% proficient
- Nicholas County Elementary SchoolD+ · 22% proficient
- Eastside Elementary SchoolD+ · 22% proficient
Top middle schools
- Bourbon County Middle SchoolD+ · 26% proficient
- Harrison County Middle SchoolD · 23% proficient
Top high schools
- Harrison County High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Bourbon County High SchoolC− · 27% proficient
- Nicholas County High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Cynthiana school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Cynthiana 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 Cynthiana against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Cynthiana
Is Cynthiana a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Cynthiana ranks 31,465th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on walkability, fast internet, and biking, and lowest on the schools and car insurance costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Cynthiana expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $202,251. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $65,570 median income, cost of living beats 42% of towns.
Is Cynthiana safe?
Cynthiana is safer than 47% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $293 per resident a year.
Compare Cynthiana with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Cynthiana. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Cynthiana 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.
Cynthiana detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Cynthiana: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Cynthiana: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Cynthiana: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Cynthiana: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Cynthiana 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.