Best PlacesMcKee, KY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around McKee, 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.
McKee ranks 48,321st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and the cost of living against local pay is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in McKee
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.
McKee's strengths and weaknesses
Where McKee ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Cheap childcare$487 a month, better than 93% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 77% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 76% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 70% of towns
Where McKee ranks low
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- Household income$34,955 median, better than only 3% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 4% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 6% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 6% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in McKee
A household needs to earn about $34,000 a year to comfortably buy the median McKee home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $34,955, 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 McKee's effective rate of 0.50%, 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 McKee
McKee's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for McKee.
Who works in McKee, and how
Work in McKee centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in McKee
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across McKee.
What the weather is like in McKee, month by month
McKee sees roughly 69 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 McKee
The nearest airport, Blue Grass, is about 51 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 McKee
Schools across McKee average a C−, better than 21% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Hazel Green Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Mckee Elementary SchoolB · 47% proficient
- East Bernstadt Elementary SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top middle schools
- Foley Middle SchoolC · 31% proficient
- Berea Community Middle SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Rockcastle County Middle SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Top high schools
- Madison Southern High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Berea Community High SchoolC · 33% proficient
- North Laurel High SchoolC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every McKee school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
McKee 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 McKee against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in McKee
Is McKee a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, McKee ranks 48,321st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on tree cover, affordable childcare, and low property taxes, and lowest on the cost of living against local pay and low incomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is McKee expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $136,135. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $34,955 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is McKee safe?
McKee is safer than 23% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $384 per resident a year.
Compare McKee with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to McKee. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in McKee 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.
McKee detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for McKee: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in McKee: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of McKee: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in McKee: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
McKee 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.