Best PlacesHarlan County, KY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Harlan 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.
Harlan County ranks 2,974th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and health outcomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Harlan 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.
Harlan County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Harlan County ranks high
- Cheap childcare$461 a month, better than 96% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 91% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 77% of counties
- QuietBetter than 77% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 75% of counties
Where Harlan County ranks low
- Health outlookBetter than only 1% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 3% of counties
- Household income$45,708 median, better than only 4% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 8% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 8% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Harlan County
A household needs to earn about $20,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Harlan County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $45,708, 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 Harlan County's effective rate of 0.74%, 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 Harlan County
Harlan County's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Harlan County.
Who works in Harlan County, and how
Work in Harlan County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Harlan County
Harlan County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 93% of counties and less parkland per resident than most counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Harlan County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Harlan County growing, and who is moving in?
Harlan County has lost about 11% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Elizabethtown, KY.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Harlan County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Harlan County, month by month
Harlan County sees roughly 88 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 46, with lows near 30. The comfortable stretch runs April through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 46° | 37° | 30° |
| April | 70° | 57° | 47° |
| July | 86° | 75° | 67° |
| October | 71° | 58° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Harlan County
The nearest airport, Tri-Cities, is about 53 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International, about 170 miles away.
The best schools in and around Harlan County
Schools across Harlan County average a D+, better than 10% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Harlan Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
- James A. Cawood ElementaryC− · 27% proficient
- Cumberland Elementary SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
Top high schools
- Harlan High SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Harlan County High SchoolD · 18% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Harlan County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Harlan 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 Harlan County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Harlan County suits
Common questions about living in Harlan County
Is Harlan County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Harlan County ranks 2,974th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on affordable childcare, tree cover, and low disaster risk, 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 Harlan County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $77,855. The overall cost of living runs about 26% below the national average. Set against a $45,708 median income, cost of living beats 9% of counties.
Is Harlan County safe?
Harlan County is safer than 25% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $387 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Harlan County?
July highs average about 86 degrees, and January highs near 46 with lows near 30. That works out to about 88 pleasant days a year, more than 49% of counties.
Is Harlan County good for families?
Schools beat 10% of counties, crime safety beats 25%, and childcare runs $461 a month.
Compare Harlan County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Harlan County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Harlan 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.
Harlan County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Harlan County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Harlan County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Harlan County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Harlan County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Harlan 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.