Best PlacesMcCracken County, KY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in McCracken 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.
McCracken County ranks 2,077th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. The weather pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on affordable childcare.
The best neighborhoods in McCracken 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.
The best areas in McCracken County
The parts of McCracken County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Massac
Local pay stretches further, incomes run higher, and fewer homes sit empty.
Hendron
More adults hold degrees, though homes cost more.
Reidland & Farley
More households have young kids and tree cover is thicker.
Paducah
Biking is better, though it is noisier.
Scores across McCracken County run from about the 2nd to the 78th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
McCracken County's strengths and weaknesses
Where McCracken County ranks high
- Cheap childcare$503 a month, better than 90% of counties
- Short commute17.6 minutes each way, better than 89% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 78% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 75% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 68% of counties
Where McCracken County ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 61 pleasant days a year, better than only 7% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 7% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 11% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 12% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 27% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in McCracken County
A household needs to earn about $50,000 a year to comfortably buy the median McCracken County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $67,982, 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 McCracken County'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, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in McCracken County
McCracken County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for McCracken County.
Who works in McCracken County, and how
Work in McCracken 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 85%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in McCracken County
McCracken County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 78% of counties and more parkland per resident than 75% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of McCracken County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is McCracken County growing, and who is moving in?
McCracken County has grown about 3% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Paducah, KY metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving McCracken County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in McCracken County, month by month
McCracken County sees roughly 61 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 48, with lows near 28. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 48° | 37° | 28° |
| April | 73° | 59° | 46° |
| July | 91° | 80° | 70° |
| October | 77° | 61° | 48° |
Flying in and out of McCracken County
The nearest airport, Barkley Regional, is about 7 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Nashville International, about 127 miles away.
The best schools in and around McCracken County
Schools across McCracken County average a C+, better than 44% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Lone Oak Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Concord Elementary SchoolB · 49% proficient
- Lone Oak Intermediate SchoolB · 48% proficient
Top middle schools
- Heath Middle SchoolB · 46% proficient
- Lone Oak Middle SchoolB− · 41% proficient
- Reidland Middle SchoolC · 34% proficient
Top high schools
- Mccracken County High SchoolC · 34% proficient
- Paducah Tilghman High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every McCracken County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
McCracken 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 McCracken County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who McCracken County suits
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in McCracken County
Is McCracken County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, McCracken County ranks 2,077th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on affordable childcare, short commutes, and an educated workforce, and lowest on the weather and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is McCracken County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $190,576. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $67,982 median income, cost of living beats 68% of counties.
Is McCracken County safe?
McCracken County is safer than 43% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $325 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in McCracken County?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 48 with lows near 28. That works out to about 61 pleasant days a year, more than 7% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in McCracken County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Massac, Hendron, and Reidland & Farley. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare McCracken County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to McCracken County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in McCracken 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.
McCracken County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for McCracken County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in McCracken County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of McCracken County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in McCracken County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
McCracken 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.