Best PlacesMercer County, KY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Mercer 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.
Mercer County ranks 1,756th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores best on heat safety, and car insurance costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Mercer 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.
Mercer County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Mercer County ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 77% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 76% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 72% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 71% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 71% of counties
Where Mercer County ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 12% of counties
- School gradeC−, better than only 21% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than only 22% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 23% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 25% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Mercer County
A household needs to earn about $56,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Mercer County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $69,134, 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 Mercer County's effective rate of 0.75%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Mercer County
Mercer County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Mercer County.
Who works in Mercer County, and how
Work in Mercer County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Mercer County
Mercer County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and more parkland per resident than 94% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Mercer County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Mercer County growing, and who is moving in?
Mercer County has grown about 10% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Lexington, KY.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Mercer County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Mercer County, month by month
Mercer County sees roughly 77 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 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 | 68° | 55° | 45° |
| July | 87° | 76° | 66° |
| October | 70° | 57° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Mercer County
The nearest airport, Blue Grass, is about 22 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International, about 88 miles away.
The best schools in and around Mercer County
Schools across Mercer County average a C−, better than 21% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Mercer County Intermediate SchoolC− · 27% proficient
Top middle schools
- Kenneth D. King Middle SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
Top high schools
- Mercer County Senior High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Mercer CentralD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Mercer County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Mercer 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 Mercer County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Mercer County suits
Families
Schools land around the 21st percentile and crime safety beats 76%.
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 12% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Mercer County
Is Mercer County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Mercer County ranks 1,756th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on heat safety, low crime, and fast internet, and lowest on car insurance costs and the schools. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Mercer County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $217,207. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $69,134 median income, cost of living beats 61% of counties.
Is Mercer County safe?
Yes, Mercer County is safer than 76% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $243 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Mercer County?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 43 with lows near 27. That works out to about 77 pleasant days a year, more than 33% of counties.
Is Mercer County good for families?
Schools beat 21% of counties, crime safety beats 76%, and childcare runs $849 a month.
Compare Mercer County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Mercer County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Mercer 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.
Mercer County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Mercer County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Mercer County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Mercer County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Mercer County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Mercer 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.