Best PlacesNicholas County, KY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Nicholas County, 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.
Nicholas County ranks 2,825th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Internet speeds pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on quiet.
The best neighborhoods in Nicholas 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.
Nicholas County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Nicholas County ranks high
- QuietBetter than 83% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 78% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 74% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 62% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 62% of counties
Where Nicholas County ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 3% of counties
- Short commute35.6 minutes each way, better than only 3% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than only 8% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 10% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 13% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Nicholas County
A household needs to earn about $34,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Nicholas County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $57,993, 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 Nicholas County's effective rate of 0.52%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Nicholas County
Nicholas 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 Nicholas County.
Who works in Nicholas County, and how
Work in Nicholas County centers on retail trade and manufacturing. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 93%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Nicholas County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Nicholas County.
Is Nicholas County growing, and who is moving in?
Nicholas County has grown about 11% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Lexington, KY.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Nicholas County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Nicholas County, month by month
Nicholas County sees roughly 74 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 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 | 86° | 76° | 67° |
| October | 70° | 58° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Nicholas County
The nearest airport, Blue Grass, is about 38 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International, about 61 miles away.
The best schools in and around Nicholas County
Schools across Nicholas County average a D+, better than 13% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Nicholas County Elementary SchoolD+ · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- Nicholas County High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Nicholas County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Nicholas 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 Nicholas County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Nicholas County
Is Nicholas County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Nicholas County ranks 2,825th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on quiet, low property taxes, and heat safety, and lowest on internet speeds and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Nicholas County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $133,795. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $57,993 median income, cost of living beats 22% of counties.
Is Nicholas County safe?
Nicholas County is safer than 41% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $326 per resident a year.
Compare Nicholas County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Nicholas County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Nicholas 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.
Nicholas County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Nicholas County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Nicholas County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Nicholas County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Nicholas County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Nicholas 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.