Best PlacesDonaldson, KY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Donaldson, 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.
Donaldson ranks 42,923rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. Health outcomes pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on tree cover.
The best neighborhoods in Donaldson
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.
Donaldson's strengths and weaknesses
Where Donaldson ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 88% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 84% of towns
- Cheap childcare$591 a month, better than 79% of towns
- QuietBetter than 74% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 67% of towns
Where Donaldson ranks low
- Health outlookBetter than only 4% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 7% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 9% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 13% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Donaldson
A household needs to earn about $47,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Donaldson home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $55,149, 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 Donaldson's effective rate of 0.65%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Donaldson
Donaldson 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 Donaldson.
Who works in Donaldson, and how
Work in Donaldson centers on arts & entertainment and manufacturing. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Donaldson
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Donaldson.
What the weather is like in Donaldson, month by month
Donaldson sees roughly 67 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 47, with lows near 30. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47° | 38° | 30° |
| April | 71° | 59° | 49° |
| July | 89° | 80° | 71° |
| October | 73° | 62° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Donaldson
The nearest airport, Barkley Regional, is about 54 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Nashville International, about 79 miles away.
The best schools in and around Donaldson
Schools across Donaldson average a C−, better than 25% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- North Stewart ElementaryB · 50% proficient
- Trigg County Intermediate SchoolC · 31% proficient
Top middle schools
- Trigg County Middle SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Top high schools
- Trigg County High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Donaldson school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Donaldson 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 Donaldson against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Donaldson
Is Donaldson a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Donaldson ranks 42,923rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on tree cover, a stable housing market, and affordable childcare, and lowest on health outcomes and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Donaldson expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $181,883. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $55,149 median income, cost of living beats 23% of towns.
Is Donaldson safe?
Donaldson is safer than 44% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $292 per resident a year.
Compare Donaldson with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Donaldson. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Donaldson 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.
Donaldson detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Donaldson: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Donaldson: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Donaldson: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Donaldson: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Donaldson 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.