Best PlacesHowards Mill, KY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Howards Mill, 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.
Howards Mill ranks 35,949th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on few empty homes by a wide margin, and biking ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Howards Mill
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.
Howards Mill's strengths and weaknesses
Where Howards Mill ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of towns
- Cheap childcare$517 a month, better than 90% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 81% of towns
- QuietBetter than 68% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 68% of towns
Where Howards Mill ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 6% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 7% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 12% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 14% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Howards Mill
A household needs to earn about $46,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Howards Mill home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $57,109, 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 Howards Mill's effective rate of 0.72%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Howards Mill
Howards Mill'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 Howards Mill.
Who works in Howards Mill, and how
Work in Howards Mill centers on retail trade and education. Unemployment sits above the national rate, 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 Howards Mill
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Howards Mill.
What the weather is like in Howards Mill, month by month
Howards Mill sees roughly 75 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 34° | 27° |
| April | 67° | 55° | 45° |
| July | 86° | 76° | 67° |
| October | 70° | 58° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Howards Mill
The nearest airport, Blue Grass, is about 40 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International, about 80 miles away.
The best schools in and around Howards Mill
Schools across Howards Mill average a C, better than 29% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Mount Sterling Elementary SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Camargo Elementary SchoolC− · 26% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mcnabb Middle SchoolC− · 29% proficient
Top high schools
- Montgomery County High SchoolC · 31% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Howards Mill school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Howards Mill 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 Howards Mill against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Howards Mill
Is Howards Mill a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Howards Mill ranks 35,949th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on few empty homes, affordable childcare, and an educated workforce, and lowest on biking and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Howards Mill expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $176,848. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $57,109 median income, cost of living beats 28% of towns.
Is Howards Mill safe?
Yes, Howards Mill is safer than 68% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $225 per resident a year.
Compare Howards Mill with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Howards Mill. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Howards Mill 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.
Howards Mill detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Howards Mill: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Howards Mill: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Howards Mill: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Howards Mill: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Howards Mill 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.