Best PlacesMatthew, KY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Matthew, 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.
Matthew ranks 48,990th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and thin health care access ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Matthew
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.
Matthew's strengths and weaknesses
Where Matthew ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Cheap childcare$545 a month, better than 88% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 83% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 70% of towns
- QuietBetter than 70% of towns
Where Matthew ranks low
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 2% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- Household income$39,282 median, better than only 3% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 8% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 9% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Matthew
A household needs to earn about $32,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Matthew home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $39,282, 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 Matthew's effective rate of 0.61%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Matthew
Matthew runs older than the country, though fewer residents are over 65 than the national share.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Matthew.
Who works in Matthew, and how
Work in Matthew centers on public administration and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 93%
- Work from home 3%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Matthew
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Matthew.
What the weather is like in Matthew, month by month
Matthew sees roughly 73 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 47, 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 | 47° | 36° | 27° |
| April | 72° | 58° | 46° |
| July | 87° | 76° | 67° |
| October | 73° | 60° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Matthew
The nearest airport, Tri-State/Milton J Ferguson Field, is about 48 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International, about 116 miles away.
The best schools in and around Matthew
Schools across Matthew average a D, better than 9% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- North Magoffin ElementaryD · 20% proficient
- Wrigley Elementary SchoolD · 19% proficient
Top middle schools
- Morgan County Middle SchoolD · 20% proficient
- Herald Whitaker Middle SchoolD− · 18% proficient
Top high schools
- Morgan County High SchoolC− · 27% proficient
- Magoffin County High SchoolD− · 14% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Matthew school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Matthew 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 Matthew against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Matthew
Is Matthew a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Matthew ranks 48,990th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on tree cover, affordable childcare, and clean air, 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 Matthew expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $127,098. The overall cost of living runs about 22% below the national average. Set against a $39,282 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Matthew safe?
Matthew is safer than 37% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $314 per resident a year.
Compare Matthew with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Matthew. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Matthew 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.
Matthew detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Matthew: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Matthew: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Matthew: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Matthew: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Matthew 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.