Best PlacesJessamine County, KY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Jessamine County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Jessamine County ranks 982nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. The weather pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on fast internet.
The best neighborhoods in Jessamine 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.
Jessamine County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Jessamine County ranks high
- Internet speedBetter than 90% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 89% of counties
- TransitBetter than 86% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 85% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 84% of counties
Where Jessamine County ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 54 pleasant days a year, better than only 2% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 12% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 24% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 32% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 33% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Jessamine County
A household needs to earn about $78,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Jessamine County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $83,034, 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 Jessamine County's effective rate of 0.76%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Jessamine County
Jessamine County runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Jessamine County.
Who works in Jessamine County, and how
Work in Jessamine County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Jessamine County
Jessamine County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Jessamine County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Jessamine County growing, and who is moving in?
Jessamine County has grown about 11% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Lexington, KY metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Jessamine County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Jessamine County, month by month
Jessamine County sees roughly 54 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 46, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 46° | 35° | 26° |
| April | 70° | 56° | 44° |
| July | 89° | 77° | 67° |
| October | 74° | 60° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Jessamine County
The nearest airport, Blue Grass, is about 10 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 Jessamine County
Schools across Jessamine County average a C+, better than 42% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Wilmore Elementary SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Rosenwald Dunbar Elementary SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Red Oak Elementary SchoolC · 34% proficient
Top middle schools
- West Jessamine Middle SchoolB− · 39% proficient
- East Jessamine Middle SchoolC− · 29% proficient
Top high schools
- West Jessamine High SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
- East Jessamine High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Ashgrove AcademyD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Jessamine County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Jessamine 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 Jessamine County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Jessamine County suits
Families
Schools land around the 42nd percentile and crime safety beats 70%.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 85% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 11% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Jessamine County
Is Jessamine County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Jessamine County ranks 982nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on fast internet, few empty homes, and transit, and lowest on the weather 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 Jessamine County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $300,529. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $83,034 median income, cost of living beats 85% of counties.
Is Jessamine County safe?
Yes, Jessamine County is safer than 70% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $257 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Jessamine County?
July highs average about 89 degrees, and January highs near 46 with lows near 26. That works out to about 54 pleasant days a year, more than 2% of counties.
Is Jessamine County good for families?
Schools beat 42% of counties, crime safety beats 70%, and childcare runs $785 a month.
Compare Jessamine County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Jessamine County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Jessamine 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.
Jessamine County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Jessamine County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Jessamine County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Jessamine County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Jessamine County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Jessamine 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.