Best PlacesFayette County, KY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Fayette County, 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.
Fayette County ranks 893rd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It ranks low mainly on the weather and noise. It does better on biking, which keeps it off the bottom.
The best neighborhoods in Fayette County
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.
Fayette County's strengths and weaknesses
Fayette County lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Biking is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. Transit and cell coverage follow.
The one real hole is the weather, near the bottom of the country. Noise and car insurance costs also cost it ground. The detail is below, and the map is where it turns into a choice of neighborhood rather than just a place.
Where Fayette County ranks high
- BikingBetter than 99% of counties
- TransitBetter than 97% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 96% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 95% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 94% of counties
Where Fayette County ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 53 pleasant days a year, better than only 2% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 5% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 10% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 16% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 23% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Fayette County
A household needs to earn about $83,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Fayette County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $81,217; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Fayette County's effective rate of 0.85%, 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 Fayette County
Fayette County runs younger 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 Fayette County.
Who works in Fayette County, and how
Work in Fayette County centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Fayette County
Fayette County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 68% of counties and more late-night spots per resident than 90% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Fayette County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Fayette County growing, and who is moving in?
Fayette County has grown about 6% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Lexington, KY metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Fayette County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Fayette County, month by month
Fayette County sees roughly 53 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 46, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 46° | 35° | 26° |
| April | 70° | 56° | 44° |
| July | 89° | 77° | 67° |
| October | 74° | 60° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Fayette County
The nearest airport, Blue Grass, is about 6 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International, about 72 miles away.
The best schools in and around Fayette County
Schools across Fayette County average a C−, better than 34% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Rosa Parks Elementary SchoolA · 64% proficient
- Athens-chilesburg ElementaryA− · 58% proficient
- Clays Mill Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Scapa At BluegrassA · 66% proficient
- Edythe Jones Hayes Middle SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Beaumont Middle SchoolB · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- Opportunity Middle CollegeA− · 60% proficient
- Paul Laurence Dunbar High SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Lafayette High SchoolB · 47% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Fayette County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Fayette County 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 Fayette County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Fayette County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 85% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 12% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Fayette County
Is Fayette County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Fayette County ranks 893rd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on biking, transit, and cell coverage, and lowest on the weather and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Fayette County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $316,873. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $81,217 median income, cost of living beats 85% of counties.
Is Fayette County safe?
Fayette County is safer than 16% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $452 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Fayette County?
July highs average about 89 degrees, and January highs near 46 with lows near 26. That works out to about 53 pleasant days a year, more than 2% of counties.
Is Fayette County good for families?
Schools beat 34% of counties, crime safety beats 16%, and childcare runs $797 a month.
Is Fayette County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 85% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 93% of counties. About 12% of workers already work from home.
Compare Fayette County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Fayette County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Fayette County 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.
Fayette County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Fayette County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Fayette County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Fayette County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Fayette County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Fayette County 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.