Best PlacesEighty Eight, KY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Eighty Eight, 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.
Eighty Eight ranks 20,981st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Eighty Eight
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.
Eighty Eight's strengths and weaknesses
Where Eighty Eight ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 92% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 87% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 84% of towns
- Cheap childcare$570 a month, better than 82% of towns
- QuietBetter than 69% of towns
Where Eighty Eight ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 54 pleasant days a year, better than only 2% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 16% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 19% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 20% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 26% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Eighty Eight
A household needs to earn about $48,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Eighty Eight home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $68,339, 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 Eighty Eight's effective rate of 0.60%, 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 Eighty Eight
Eighty Eight runs older than the country, 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 Eighty Eight.
Who works in Eighty Eight, and how
Work in Eighty Eight centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Eighty Eight
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Eighty Eight.
What the weather is like in Eighty Eight, month by month
Eighty Eight sees roughly 54 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 48, 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 | 48° | 36° | 27° |
| April | 72° | 57° | 44° |
| July | 90° | 77° | 67° |
| October | 74° | 60° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Eighty Eight
Nashville International sits about 74 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 12.6 million passengers in 2025, with 158 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Eighty Eight
Schools across Eighty Eight average a C, better than 32% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Temple Hill Elementary SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Eastern Elementary SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Barren County Middle SchoolC− · 29% proficient
Top high schools
- Barren County High SchoolC · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Eighty Eight school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Eighty Eight 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 Eighty Eight against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Eighty Eight
Is Eighty Eight a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Eighty Eight ranks 20,981st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a strong job market, low crime, and few empty homes, and lowest on the weather 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 Eighty Eight expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $186,826. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $68,339 median income, cost of living beats 50% of towns.
Is Eighty Eight safe?
Yes, Eighty Eight is safer than 87% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $174 per resident a year.
Compare Eighty Eight with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Eighty Eight. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Eighty Eight 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.
Eighty Eight detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Eighty Eight: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Eighty Eight: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Eighty Eight: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Eighty Eight: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Eighty Eight 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.