Best PlacesMcBrayer, KY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around McBrayer, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
McBrayer ranks 23,074th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on heat safety by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in McBrayer
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.
McBrayer's strengths and weaknesses
Where McBrayer ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 97% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 90% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 86% of towns
- Household income$100,064 median, better than 85% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 76% of towns
Where McBrayer ranks low
- Short commute44.4 minutes each way, better than only 2% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 13% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 16% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 18% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 22% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in McBrayer
A household needs to earn about $79,000 a year to comfortably buy the median McBrayer home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $100,064, 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 McBrayer's effective rate of 0.77%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in McBrayer
McBrayer 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 McBrayer.
Who works in McBrayer, and how
Work in McBrayer centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in McBrayer
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across McBrayer.
What the weather is like in McBrayer, month by month
McBrayer sees roughly 111 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° | 46° |
| July | 86° | 76° | 67° |
| October | 70° | 59° | 49° |
Flying in and out of McBrayer
The nearest airport, Blue Grass, is about 16 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International, about 75 miles away.
The best schools in and around McBrayer
Schools across McBrayer average a C+, better than 43% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Robert B. Turner Elementary SchoolB− · 41% proficient
Top middle schools
- Anderson County Middle SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- Anderson County High SchoolC · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every McBrayer school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
McBrayer 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 McBrayer against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in McBrayer
Is McBrayer a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, McBrayer ranks 23,074th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on heat safety, what local pay buys, and civic engagement, and lowest on long commutes and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is McBrayer expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $301,607. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $100,064 median income, cost of living beats 90% of towns.
Is McBrayer safe?
Yes, McBrayer is safer than 63% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $239 per resident a year.
Compare McBrayer with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to McBrayer. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in McBrayer 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.
McBrayer detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for McBrayer: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in McBrayer: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of McBrayer: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in McBrayer: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
McBrayer 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.