Best PlacesElizabethtown, KY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in the Elizabethtown metro, 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.
Photo by Nyttend, via wiki
Elizabethtown ranks 287th of 387 U.S. metro areas on the BestNeighborhood index. It does not top any single list, but it lands above the national middle on affordable childcare and low property taxes. The weaker spots are biking, the weather, and walkability.
The best neighborhoods in the Elizabethtown metro
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.
The best areas in Elizabethtown
The towns and districts of the Elizabethtown metro, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood in each, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the metro.
Rineyville
Prices have run up less, local pay stretches further, and incomes run higher.
Downtown Elizabethtown
Fewer homes sit empty and more households have young kids.
Hodgenville
It is quieter, though fewer adults hold degrees.
Radcliff, Vine Grove & Fort Knox
Fewer residents vote.
Cecilia
Streets are more car-dependent and advertised internet is slower.
Scores across Elizabethtown run from about the 2nd to the 85th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Elizabethtown's strengths and weaknesses
Elizabethtown lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Affordable childcare, low property taxes, and heat safety are the strongest pieces, though none of them is exceptional.
The one real hole is biking, near the bottom of the country. The weather and walkability also cost it ground. That one depends almost entirely on which part you pick, which is what the map below settles.
Where Elizabethtown ranks high
- Cheap childcare$668 a month, better than 84% of metro areas
- Low property taxBetter than 73% of metro areas
- Heat safetyBetter than 67% of metro areas
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 64% of metro areas
- State fiscal healthBetter than 63% of metro areas
Where Elizabethtown ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 1% of metro areas
- Nice weatherabout 61 pleasant days a year, better than only 6% of metro areas
- WalkabilityBetter than only 7% of metro areas
- Internet speedBetter than only 10% of metro areas
- TransitBetter than only 13% of metro areas
What it costs to buy a home in Elizabethtown
A household needs to earn about $59,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Elizabethtown home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $71,963, 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 Elizabethtown's effective rate of 0.65%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Elizabethtown
Elizabethtown'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 Elizabethtown.
Who works in Elizabethtown, and how
Work in Elizabethtown centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Elizabethtown
Elizabethtown has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most metro areas and more parkland per resident than 67% of metro areas. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Elizabethtown and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Elizabethtown growing, and who is moving in?
Elizabethtown has grown about 4% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Louisville, KY.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Elizabethtown go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Elizabethtown, month by month
Elizabethtown sees roughly 61 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 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 | 68° | 56° | 45° |
| July | 87° | 77° | 68° |
| October | 70° | 58° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Elizabethtown
The nearest airport, Louisville Muhammad Ali International, is about 33 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International, about 113 miles away.
The best schools in and around Elizabethtown
Schools across Elizabethtown average a C, better than 21% of metro areas.
Top elementary schools
- Cecilia Valley Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Lincoln Trail Elementary SchoolB · 44% proficient
- Heartland Elementary SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Top middle schools
- East Hardin Middle SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
- Talton K Stone Middle SchoolC · 34% proficient
- West Hardin Middle SchoolC · 33% proficient
Top high schools
- Central Hardin High SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
- Elizabethtown High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Thomas Nelson High SchoolC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Elizabethtown school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Elizabethtown 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 Elizabethtown against the other 386 metro areas.
Who Elizabethtown suits
Families
Schools land around the 21st percentile and crime safety beats 61%.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Elizabethtown
Is Elizabethtown a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Elizabethtown ranks 287th of 387 metro areas. It scores highest on affordable childcare, low property taxes, and heat safety, and lowest on biking and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Elizabethtown expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $232,051. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $71,963 median income, cost of living beats 46% of metro areas.
Is Elizabethtown safe?
Yes, Elizabethtown is safer than 61% of metro areas. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $290 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Elizabethtown?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 43 with lows near 27. That works out to about 61 pleasant days a year, more than 6% of metro areas.
What are the best neighborhoods in Elizabethtown?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Rineyville, Downtown Elizabethtown, and Hodgenville. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Elizabethtown good for families?
Schools beat 21% of metro areas, crime safety beats 61%, and childcare runs $668 a month.
Is Elizabethtown good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 46% of metro areas, though advertised internet speeds beat only 10% of metro areas. About 10% of workers already work from home.
Compare Elizabethtown with other metro areas
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Elizabethtown. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Elizabethtown 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.
Elizabethtown detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Elizabethtown: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Elizabethtown: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Elizabethtown: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Elizabethtown: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Elizabethtown 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.