Best PlacesMeade County, KY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Meade 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.
Meade County ranks 1,726th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. The weather pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on low crime.
The best neighborhoods in Meade 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 Meade County
The parts of Meade 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.
Brandenburg
Tree cover is thicker, local pay stretches further, and health care is easier to reach.
Ekron
More households have young kids, though commutes are longer.
Vine Grove & Fort Knox
Health outcomes score higher, though fewer residents vote.
Scores across Meade County run from about the 11th to the 80th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Meade County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Meade County ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 88% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 74% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 72% of counties
- Household income$76,414 median, better than 69% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 68% of counties
Where Meade County ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 53 pleasant days a year, better than only 2% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 5% of counties
- Short commute33.0 minutes each way, better than only 7% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 11% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 11% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Meade County
A household needs to earn about $53,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Meade County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $76,414, 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 Meade County's effective rate of 0.66%, 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 Meade County
Meade County'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 Meade County.
Who works in Meade County, and how
Work in Meade 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 86%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Meade County
Meade County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 96% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Meade County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Meade County growing, and who is moving in?
Meade County has grown about 5% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Louisville, KY metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Meade County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Meade County, month by month
Meade County sees roughly 53 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 45, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45° | 34° | 25° |
| April | 70° | 57° | 44° |
| July | 88° | 77° | 67° |
| October | 73° | 59° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Meade County
The nearest airport, Louisville Muhammad Ali International, is about 27 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International, about 110 miles away.
The best schools in and around Meade County
Schools across Meade County average a C+, better than 47% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Barry Hahn Primary SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Perry Central Elementary SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Flaherty Primary SchoolB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- David T. Wilson ElementaryB+ · 48% proficient
- Corydon Intermediate SchoolB · 43% proficient
- Flaherty Elementary SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top high schools
- Perry Central Jr-sr High SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Corydon Central High SchoolB · 47% proficient
- South Central Jr & Sr High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Meade County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Meade 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 Meade County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Meade County suits
Families
Schools land around the 47th percentile and crime safety beats 88%.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 72% of counties and 10% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Meade County
Is Meade County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Meade County ranks 1,726th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low crime, a strong job market, and what local pay buys, and lowest on the weather and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Meade County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $207,034. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $76,414 median income, cost of living beats 72% of counties.
Is Meade County safe?
Yes, Meade County is safer than 88% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $217 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Meade County?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 45 with lows near 25. That works out to about 53 pleasant days a year, more than 2% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Meade County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Brandenburg, Ekron, and Vine Grove & Fort Knox. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Meade County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Meade County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Meade 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.
Meade County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Meade County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Meade County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Meade County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Meade County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Meade 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.