Best PlacesGrand Rivers, KY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Grand Rivers, 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.
Grand Rivers ranks 44,897th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores best on low property taxes, and health outcomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Grand Rivers
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.
Grand Rivers' strengths and weaknesses
Where Grand Rivers ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 88% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 86% of towns
- Cheap childcare$591 a month, better than 79% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 71% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 68% of towns
Where Grand Rivers ranks low
- Health outlookBetter than only 10% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 13% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 14% of towns
- Household income$51,903 median, better than only 15% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 17% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Grand Rivers
A household needs to earn about $35,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Grand Rivers home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $51,903, 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 Grand Rivers' effective rate of 0.41%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Grand Rivers
Grand Rivers 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 Grand Rivers.
Who works in Grand Rivers, and how
Work in Grand Rivers centers on construction and hospitality & food. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 3%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in Grand Rivers
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Grand Rivers.
What the weather is like in Grand Rivers, month by month
Grand Rivers sees roughly 66 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 45, with lows near 30. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45° | 37° | 30° |
| April | 70° | 59° | 49° |
| July | 89° | 79° | 71° |
| October | 73° | 61° | 52° |
Flying in and out of Grand Rivers
The nearest airport, Barkley Regional, is about 28 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Nashville International, about 109 miles away.
The best schools in and around Grand Rivers
Schools across Grand Rivers average a C−, better than 23% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lyon County Elementary SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Calvert City Elementary SchoolC · 30% proficient
- South Livingston Elementary SchoolC− · 27% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lyon County Middle SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Livingston County Middle SchoolC · 35% proficient
- North Marshall Middle SchoolC · 32% proficient
Top high schools
- Lyon County High SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Marshall County High SchoolC− · 26% proficient
- Livingston Central High SchoolD · 22% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Grand Rivers school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Grand Rivers 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 Grand Rivers against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Grand Rivers
Is Grand Rivers a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Grand Rivers ranks 44,897th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low property taxes, a strong job market, and affordable childcare, and lowest on health outcomes 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 Grand Rivers expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $142,720. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $51,903 median income, cost of living beats 14% of towns.
Is Grand Rivers safe?
Grand Rivers is safer than 55% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $261 per resident a year.
Compare Grand Rivers with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Grand Rivers. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Grand Rivers 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.
Grand Rivers detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Grand Rivers: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Grand Rivers: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Grand Rivers: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Grand Rivers: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Grand Rivers 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.