Best PlacesMelbourne, KY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Melbourne, 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.
Melbourne ranks 19,393rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on few empty homes by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Melbourne
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.
Melbourne's strengths and weaknesses
Where Melbourne ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 93% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 79% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 78% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 77% of towns
Where Melbourne ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 64 pleasant days a year, better than only 14% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 16% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 26% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 33% of towns
- Cheap childcare$866 a month, better than only 40% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Melbourne
A household needs to earn about $66,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Melbourne home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $78,448, 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 Melbourne's effective rate of 0.97%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Melbourne
Melbourne runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Melbourne.
Who works in Melbourne, and how
Work in Melbourne centers on construction and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Melbourne
Melbourne has more restaurants and bars per resident than 99% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Melbourne and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Melbourne, month by month
Melbourne sees roughly 64 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 33° | 23° |
| April | 69° | 54° | 41° |
| July | 89° | 76° | 65° |
| October | 72° | 57° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Melbourne
Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International sits about 17 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 4.4 million passengers in 2025, with 99 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Melbourne
Schools across Melbourne average a B−, better than 54% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Campbell Ridge ElementaryC+ · 40% proficient
- Crossroads Elementary SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- Nagel Middle SchoolA+ · 77% proficient
- Campbell County Middle SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
Top high schools
- Anderson High SchoolA · 73% proficient
- Campbell County High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Melbourne school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Melbourne 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 Melbourne against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Melbourne
Is Melbourne a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Melbourne ranks 19,393rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on few empty homes, civic engagement, and fast internet, and lowest on the weather and car insurance costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Melbourne expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $248,375. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $78,448 median income, cost of living beats 54% of towns.
Is Melbourne safe?
Yes, Melbourne is safer than 58% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $253 per resident a year.
Compare Melbourne with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Melbourne. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Melbourne 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.
Melbourne detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Melbourne: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Melbourne: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Melbourne: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Melbourne: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Melbourne 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.