Best PlacesGrayson County, KY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Grayson 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.
Grayson County ranks 2,508th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on heat safety by a wide margin, and health outcomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Grayson 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.
Grayson County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Grayson County ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 95% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 75% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 70% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 68% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 62% of counties
Where Grayson County ranks low
- Health outlookBetter than only 11% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 12% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 13% of counties
- Household income$56,109 median, better than only 18% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 20% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Grayson County
A household needs to earn about $46,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Grayson County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $56,109, 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 Grayson County's effective rate of 0.55%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Grayson County
Grayson County'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 Grayson County.
Who works in Grayson County, and how
Work in Grayson County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Grayson County
Grayson County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Grayson County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Grayson County growing, and who is moving in?
Grayson County has grown about 4% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Elizabethtown, KY.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Grayson County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Grayson County, month by month
Grayson County sees roughly 102 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 46, 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 | 46° | 36° | 29° |
| April | 71° | 58° | 48° |
| July | 87° | 77° | 69° |
| October | 72° | 60° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Grayson County
The nearest airport, Owensboro/Daviess County Regional, is about 51 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Nashville International, about 95 miles away.
The best schools in and around Grayson County
Schools across Grayson County average a C−, better than 24% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Clarkson Elementary SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Oran P Lawler Elementary SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Caneyville Elementary SchoolC− · 27% proficient
Top middle schools
- Grayson County Middle SchoolD+ · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- Grayson County High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Grayson County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Grayson 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 Grayson County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Grayson County suits
Families
Schools land around the 24th percentile and crime safety beats 68%.
Common questions about living in Grayson County
Is Grayson County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Grayson County ranks 2,508th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on heat safety, low property taxes, and low disaster risk, 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 Grayson County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $180,651. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $56,109 median income, cost of living beats 20% of counties.
Is Grayson County safe?
Yes, Grayson County is safer than 68% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $263 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Grayson County?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 46 with lows near 29. That works out to about 102 pleasant days a year, more than 62% of counties.
Is Grayson County good for families?
Schools beat 24% of counties, crime safety beats 68%, and childcare runs $750 a month.
Compare Grayson County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Grayson County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Grayson 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.
Grayson County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Grayson County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Grayson County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Grayson County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Grayson County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Grayson 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.