Best PlacesPendleton County, KY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Pendleton 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.
Pendleton County ranks 2,672nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Long commutes pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on heat safety.
The best neighborhoods in Pendleton 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.
Pendleton County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Pendleton County ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 77% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 75% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 72% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 71% of counties
- QuietBetter than 66% of counties
Where Pendleton County ranks low
- Short commute36.4 minutes each way, better than only 2% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 11% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 13% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 13% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 13% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Pendleton County
A household needs to earn about $42,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Pendleton County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $65,911, 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 Pendleton County's effective rate of 0.68%, 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 Pendleton County
Pendleton 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 Pendleton County.
Who works in Pendleton County, and how
Work in Pendleton 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 87%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Pendleton County
Pendleton County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Pendleton County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Pendleton County growing, and who is moving in?
Pendleton County has grown about 2% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Cincinnati, OH metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Pendleton County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Pendleton County, month by month
Pendleton County sees roughly 68 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 41, 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 | 41° | 33° | 27° |
| April | 66° | 55° | 46° |
| July | 86° | 76° | 67° |
| October | 69° | 58° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Pendleton County
Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International sits about 28 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 Pendleton County
Schools across Pendleton County average a C−, better than 18% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Northern Elementary SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Southern Elementary SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Top middle schools
- Phillip Sharp Middle SchoolD · 21% proficient
Top high schools
- Pendleton County High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Pendleton County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Pendleton 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 Pendleton County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Pendleton County
Is Pendleton County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Pendleton County ranks 2,672nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on heat safety, big-city access, and low crime, and lowest on long commutes 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 Pendleton County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $163,965. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $65,911 median income, cost of living beats 31% of counties.
Is Pendleton County safe?
Yes, Pendleton County is safer than 72% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $260 per resident a year.
Compare Pendleton County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Pendleton County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Pendleton 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.
Pendleton County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Pendleton County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Pendleton County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Pendleton County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Pendleton County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Pendleton 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.