Best PlacesRockcastle County, KY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Rockcastle 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.
Rockcastle County ranks 2,835th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and health outcomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Rockcastle 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.
Rockcastle County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Rockcastle County ranks high
- Cheap childcare$487 a month, better than 92% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 87% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 82% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 73% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 64% of counties
Where Rockcastle County ranks low
- Health outlookBetter than only 7% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 9% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 10% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 11% of counties
- Household income$52,885 median, better than only 12% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Rockcastle County
A household needs to earn about $30,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Rockcastle County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $52,885, 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 Rockcastle County's effective rate of 0.49%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Rockcastle County
Rockcastle County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Rockcastle County.
Who works in Rockcastle County, and how
Work in Rockcastle County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Rockcastle County
Rockcastle County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Rockcastle County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Rockcastle County growing, and who is moving in?
Rockcastle County has lost about 4% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Madison County, KY.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Rockcastle County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Rockcastle County, month by month
Rockcastle County sees roughly 70 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 35° | 29° |
| April | 69° | 57° | 47° |
| July | 88° | 77° | 68° |
| October | 71° | 59° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Rockcastle County
The nearest airport, Blue Grass, is about 48 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International, about 116 miles away.
The best schools in and around Rockcastle County
Schools across Rockcastle County average a C−, better than 20% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Roundstone Elementary SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Mt. Vernon ElementaryC− · 27% proficient
- Brodhead Elementary SchoolD+ · 22% proficient
Top middle schools
- Rockcastle County Middle SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Top high schools
- Rockcastle County High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Rockcastle County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Rockcastle 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 Rockcastle County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Rockcastle County
Is Rockcastle County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Rockcastle County ranks 2,835th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on affordable childcare, tree cover, and low property taxes, and lowest on health outcomes and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Rockcastle County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $120,351. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $52,885 median income, cost of living beats 15% of counties.
Is Rockcastle County safe?
Rockcastle County is safer than 37% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $328 per resident a year.
Compare Rockcastle County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Rockcastle County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Rockcastle 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.
Rockcastle County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Rockcastle County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Rockcastle County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Rockcastle County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Rockcastle County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Rockcastle 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.