Best PlacesPike County, KY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Pike County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Pike County ranks 2,889th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Pike 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 Pike County
The parts of Pike 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.
Pikeville
Commutes are shorter, fewer homes sit empty, and streets are more walkable.
Belfry
Local pay stretches further and more residents vote.
Virgie
Tree cover is thicker, though fewer adults hold degrees.
Elkhorn City
Fewer households have young kids and incomes run lower.
Scores across Pike County run from about the 2nd to the 64th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Pike County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Pike County ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 96% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 87% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 84% of counties
- Cheap childcare$545 a month, better than 84% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 79% of counties
Where Pike County ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 4% of counties
- Household income$46,612 median, better than only 5% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than only 5% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 6% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 8% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Pike County
A household needs to earn about $33,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Pike County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $46,612, 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 Pike County's effective rate of 0.62%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Pike County
Pike County runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Pike County.
Who works in Pike County, and how
Work in Pike County centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Pike County
Pike County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 90% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Pike County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Pike County growing, and who is moving in?
Pike County has lost about 12% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Mingo County, WV.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Pike County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Pike County, month by month
Pike County sees roughly 83 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 46, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs April through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 46° | 35° | 27° |
| April | 71° | 57° | 46° |
| July | 86° | 75° | 66° |
| October | 72° | 59° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Pike County
The nearest airport, Tri-State/Milton J Ferguson Field, is about 63 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International, about 164 miles away.
The best schools in and around Pike County
Schools across Pike County average a C−, better than 29% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Lake Ridge ElementaryA · 69% proficient
- Clintwood ElementaryA · 68% proficient
- Pikeville Elementary SchoolA− · 58% proficient
Top middle schools
- Liberty Bell Middle SchoolA− · 54% proficient
- Belfry Middle SchoolC− · 29% proficient
- Fleming Neon Middle SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Ridgeview HighA− · 63% proficient
- Pikeville High SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Daniel Boone High SchoolB− · 44% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Pike County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Pike 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 Pike County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Pike County suits
Common questions about living in Pike County
Is Pike County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Pike County ranks 2,889th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on tree cover, a stable housing market, and clean air, and lowest on cell coverage and low incomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Pike County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $129,910. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $46,612 median income, cost of living beats 6% of counties.
Is Pike County safe?
Pike County is safer than 47% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $309 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Pike County?
July highs average about 86 degrees, and January highs near 46 with lows near 27. That works out to about 83 pleasant days a year, more than 43% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Pike County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Pikeville, Belfry, and Virgie. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Pike County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Pike County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Pike 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.
Pike County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Pike County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Pike County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Pike County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Pike County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Pike 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.