Best PlacesHorse Branch, KY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Horse Branch, 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.
Horse Branch ranks 41,485th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on heat safety by a wide margin, and education levels rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Horse Branch
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.
Horse Branch's strengths and weaknesses
Where Horse Branch ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 92% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 83% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 75% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 74% of towns
- Cheap childcare$665 a month, better than 71% of towns
Where Horse Branch ranks low
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 1% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 11% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 13% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 14% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 16% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Horse Branch
A household needs to earn about $24,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Horse Branch home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $53,958, 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 Horse Branch's effective rate of 0.52%, 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 Horse Branch
Horse Branch's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Horse Branch.
Who works in Horse Branch, and how
Work in Horse Branch centers on manufacturing and admin & support services. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 96%
- Work from home 2%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Horse Branch
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Horse Branch.
What the weather is like in Horse Branch, month by month
Horse Branch sees roughly 103 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 Horse Branch
The nearest airport, Owensboro/Daviess County Regional, is about 34 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Nashville International, about 91 miles away.
The best schools in and around Horse Branch
Schools across Horse Branch average a C, better than 35% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Horse Branch Elementary SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Southern Elementary SchoolC− · 27% proficient
- Caneyville Elementary SchoolC− · 27% proficient
Top middle schools
- Ohio County Middle SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Grayson County Middle SchoolD+ · 27% proficient
- Butler County Middle SchoolD · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- Ohio County High SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
- Grayson County High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Butler County High SchoolD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Horse Branch school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Horse Branch 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 Horse Branch against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Horse Branch
Is Horse Branch a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Horse Branch ranks 41,485th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on heat safety, a stable housing market, and tree cover, and lowest on education levels and health outcomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Horse Branch expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $96,302. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $53,958 median income, cost of living beats 17% of towns.
Is Horse Branch safe?
Yes, Horse Branch is safer than 57% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $252 per resident a year.
Compare Horse Branch with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Horse Branch. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Horse Branch 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.
Horse Branch detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Horse Branch: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Horse Branch: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Horse Branch: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Horse Branch: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Horse Branch 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.