Best PlacesLeighton, KY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Leighton, 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.
Leighton ranks 49,714th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and thin health care access ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Leighton
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.
Leighton's strengths and weaknesses
Where Leighton ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 92% of towns
- Cheap childcare$545 a month, better than 88% of towns
- QuietBetter than 71% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 70% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 67% of towns
Where Leighton ranks low
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 2% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- Short commute43.4 minutes each way, better than only 3% of towns
- Household income$33,260 median, better than only 3% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Leighton
A household needs to earn about $17,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Leighton home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $33,260, 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 Leighton's effective rate of 0.64%, 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 2 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Leighton
Leighton runs older than the country, 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 Leighton.
Who works in Leighton, and how
Work in Leighton centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Leighton
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Leighton.
What the weather is like in Leighton, month by month
Leighton sees roughly 66 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 44, 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 | 44° | 35° | 29° |
| April | 69° | 57° | 47° |
| July | 88° | 77° | 68° |
| October | 71° | 59° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Leighton
The nearest airport, Blue Grass, is about 53 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International, about 112 miles away.
The best schools in and around Leighton
Schools across Leighton average a D+, better than 13% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lee County Elementary SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Estill County Middle SchoolD · 20% proficient
- Jackson County Middle SchoolD · 19% proficient
Top high schools
- Estill County High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Lee County Middle High SchoolD · 23% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Leighton school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Leighton 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 Leighton against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Leighton
Is Leighton a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Leighton ranks 49,714th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a strong job market, affordable childcare, and quiet, and lowest on thin health care access and the cost of living against local pay. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Leighton expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $67,300. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $33,260 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Leighton safe?
Leighton is safer than 18% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $410 per resident a year.
Compare Leighton with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Leighton. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Leighton 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.
Leighton detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Leighton: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Leighton: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Leighton: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Leighton: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Leighton 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.