Best PlacesDuncanon, KY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Duncanon, 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.
Duncanon ranks 19,496th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on heat safety by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Duncanon
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.
Duncanon's strengths and weaknesses
Where Duncanon ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 91% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 88% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 87% of towns
- Household income$98,100 median, better than 83% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 82% of towns
Where Duncanon ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 6% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 14% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 16% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 65 pleasant days a year, better than only 17% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Duncanon
A household needs to earn about $62,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Duncanon home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $98,100, 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 Duncanon's effective rate of 0.69%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Duncanon
Duncanon runs older than the country, though fewer residents are over 65 than the national share.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Duncanon.
Who works in Duncanon, and how
Work in Duncanon centers on public administration and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Duncanon
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Duncanon.
What the weather is like in Duncanon, month by month
Duncanon 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 Duncanon
The nearest airport, Blue Grass, is about 31 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International, about 99 miles away.
The best schools in and around Duncanon
Schools across Duncanon average a C+, better than 51% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Shannon Johnson Elementary SchoolB− · 41% proficient
Top middle schools
- Farristown Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
- Foley Middle SchoolC · 31% proficient
Top high schools
- Madison Southern High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Duncanon school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Duncanon 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 Duncanon against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Duncanon
Is Duncanon a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Duncanon ranks 19,496th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on heat safety, what local pay buys, and fast internet, and lowest on a weak job market and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Duncanon expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $242,281. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $98,100 median income, cost of living beats 88% of towns.
Is Duncanon safe?
Yes, Duncanon is safer than 64% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $233 per resident a year.
Compare Duncanon with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Duncanon. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Duncanon 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.
Duncanon detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Duncanon: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Duncanon: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Duncanon: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Duncanon: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Duncanon 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.