Best PlacesNelson County, KY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Nelson 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.
Nelson County ranks 1,513th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on few empty homes by a wide margin, and car insurance costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Nelson 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 Nelson County
The parts of Nelson 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.
Coxs Creek
Tree cover is thicker, local pay stretches further, and it is quieter.
Bloomfield
Fewer households have young kids and more homes sit empty.
Bardstown
Streets are more walkable, though incomes run lower.
Scores across Nelson County run from about the 18th to the 72nd percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Nelson County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Nelson County ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 92% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 89% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 78% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 76% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 71% of counties
Where Nelson County ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 13% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 16% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 68 pleasant days a year, better than only 17% of counties
- School gradeC−, better than only 21% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 26% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Nelson County
A household needs to earn about $62,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Nelson County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $73,036, 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 Nelson 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 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 Nelson County
Nelson 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 Nelson County.
Who works in Nelson County, and how
Work in Nelson County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Nelson County
Nelson County has more parkland per resident than 76% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Nelson County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Nelson County growing, and who is moving in?
Nelson County has grown about 9% 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 Nelson County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Nelson County, month by month
Nelson County sees roughly 68 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 | 67° | 55° | 45° |
| July | 87° | 76° | 67° |
| October | 70° | 58° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Nelson County
The nearest airport, Louisville Muhammad Ali International, is about 29 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International, about 95 miles away.
The best schools in and around Nelson County
Schools across Nelson County average a C−, better than 21% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Bardstown Elementary SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Boston SchoolC · 34% proficient
- Coxs Creek Elementary SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Bardstown Middle SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Bloomfield Middle SchoolD+ · 26% proficient
- Old Kentucky Home Middle SchoolD− · 19% proficient
Top high schools
- Bardstown High SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Thomas Nelson High SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Nelson County High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Nelson County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Nelson 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 Nelson County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Nelson County suits
Families
Schools land around the 21st percentile and crime safety beats 89%.
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 6% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Nelson County
Is Nelson County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Nelson County ranks 1,513th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on few empty homes, low crime, and fast internet, and lowest on car insurance costs and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Nelson County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $239,110. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $73,036 median income, cost of living beats 61% of counties.
Is Nelson County safe?
Yes, Nelson County is safer than 89% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $212 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Nelson County?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 43 with lows near 27. That works out to about 68 pleasant days a year, more than 17% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Nelson County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Coxs Creek, Bloomfield, and Bardstown. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Nelson County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Nelson County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Nelson 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.
Nelson County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Nelson County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Nelson County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Nelson County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Nelson County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Nelson 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.