Best PlacesReed, KY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Reed, 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.
Reed ranks 32,194th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on few empty homes by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Reed
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.
Reed's strengths and weaknesses
Where Reed ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 96% of towns
- Short commute21.4 minutes each way, better than 82% of towns
- Cheap childcare$570 a month, better than 82% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 82% of towns
Where Reed ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 61 pleasant days a year, better than only 9% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 12% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 21% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 24% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Reed
A household needs to earn about $44,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Reed home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $68,815, 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 Reed's effective rate of 0.82%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Reed
Reed'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 Reed.
Who works in Reed, and how
Work in Reed centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Reed
Reed has more restaurants and bars per resident than 99% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Reed and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Reed, month by month
Reed sees roughly 61 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 28. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 35° | 28° |
| April | 70° | 58° | 48° |
| July | 89° | 79° | 70° |
| October | 72° | 60° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Reed
The nearest airport, Owensboro/Daviess County Regional, is about 14 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Nashville International, about 126 miles away.
The best schools in and around Reed
Schools across Reed average a C+, better than 50% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Spottsville Elementary SchoolB · 49% proficient
Top middle schools
- Henderson County North Middle SchoolC · 34% proficient
Top high schools
- Henderson County High SchoolC · 32% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Reed school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Reed 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 Reed against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Reed
Is Reed a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Reed ranks 32,194th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on few empty homes, a stable housing market, and short commutes, and lowest on the weather 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 Reed expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $167,781. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $68,815 median income, cost of living beats 39% of towns.
Is Reed safe?
Reed is safer than 34% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $326 per resident a year.
Compare Reed with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Reed. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Reed 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.
Reed detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Reed: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Reed: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Reed: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Reed: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Reed 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.
- 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.