Best PlacesHatcher, KY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Hatcher, 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.
Hatcher ranks 27,296th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and health outcomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Hatcher
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.
Hatcher's strengths and weaknesses
Where Hatcher ranks high
- Cheap childcare$476 a month, better than 95% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 92% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 86% of towns
- Short commute22.1 minutes each way, better than 79% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 76% of towns
Where Hatcher ranks low
- Health outlookBetter than only 13% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 13% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 23% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 23% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 24% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Hatcher
A household needs to earn about $41,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Hatcher home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $78,140, 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 Hatcher's effective rate of 0.68%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Hatcher
Hatcher runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Hatcher.
Who works in Hatcher, and how
Work in Hatcher centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Hatcher
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Hatcher.
What the weather is like in Hatcher, month by month
Hatcher sees roughly 78 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 30. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 36° | 30° |
| April | 69° | 57° | 47° |
| July | 86° | 76° | 68° |
| October | 71° | 59° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Hatcher
The nearest airport, Louisville Muhammad Ali International, is about 64 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Nashville International, about 110 miles away.
The best schools in and around Hatcher
Schools across Hatcher average a C−, better than 27% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Taylor County Elementary SchoolC · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Taylor County Middle SchoolC · 31% proficient
Top high schools
- Taylor County High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Hatcher school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Hatcher 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 Hatcher against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Hatcher
Is Hatcher a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Hatcher ranks 27,296th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, heat safety, and few empty homes, 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 Hatcher expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $159,500. The overall cost of living runs about 22% below the national average. Set against a $78,140 median income, cost of living beats 72% of towns.
Is Hatcher safe?
Hatcher is safer than 23% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $378 per resident a year.
Compare Hatcher with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Hatcher. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Hatcher 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.
Hatcher detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Hatcher: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Hatcher: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Hatcher: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Hatcher: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Hatcher 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.