Best PlacesGunlock, KY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Gunlock, 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.
Gunlock ranks 49,283rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and health outcomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Gunlock
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.
Gunlock's strengths and weaknesses
Where Gunlock ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 98% of towns
- Cheap childcare$545 a month, better than 88% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 80% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 79% of towns
- QuietBetter than 78% of towns
Where Gunlock ranks low
- Health outlookBetter than only 2% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 2% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- Household income$32,296 median, better than only 3% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 3% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Gunlock
A household needs to earn about $19,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Gunlock home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $32,296, 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 Gunlock's effective rate of 0.21%, 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 3 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Gunlock
Gunlock runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Gunlock.
Who works in Gunlock, and how
Work in Gunlock centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Gunlock
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Gunlock.
What the weather is like in Gunlock, month by month
Gunlock sees roughly 77 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 46, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs April through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 46° | 35° | 27° |
| April | 71° | 57° | 46° |
| July | 86° | 75° | 66° |
| October | 72° | 59° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Gunlock
The nearest airport, Tri-State/Milton J Ferguson Field, is about 60 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International, about 139 miles away.
The best schools in and around Gunlock
Schools across Gunlock average a D, better than 5% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- South Magoffin ElementaryD+ · 24% proficient
- North Magoffin ElementaryD · 20% proficient
Top middle schools
- Herald Whitaker Middle SchoolD− · 18% proficient
Top high schools
- Magoffin County High SchoolD− · 14% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Gunlock school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Gunlock 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 Gunlock against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Gunlock
Is Gunlock a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Gunlock ranks 49,283rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low property taxes, affordable childcare, and clean air, and lowest on health outcomes and thin health care access. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Gunlock expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $77,100. The overall cost of living runs about 23% below the national average. Set against a $32,296 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Gunlock safe?
Gunlock is safer than 20% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $399 per resident a year.
Compare Gunlock with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Gunlock. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Gunlock 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.
Gunlock detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Gunlock: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Gunlock: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Gunlock: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Gunlock: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Gunlock 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.