Best PlacesRowan County, KY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Rowan 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.
Rowan County ranks 2,493rd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and car insurance costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Rowan 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.
Rowan County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Rowan County ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 92% of counties
- Cheap childcare$517 a month, better than 88% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 84% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 76% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 71% of counties
Where Rowan County ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 9% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 14% of counties
- Household income$53,708 median, better than only 14% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 20% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 20% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Rowan County
A household needs to earn about $42,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Rowan County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $53,708, 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 Rowan County's effective rate of 0.64%, 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 Rowan County
Rowan County runs younger 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 Rowan County.
Who works in Rowan County, and how
Work in Rowan County centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 12%
Life in Rowan County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Rowan County.
Is Rowan County growing, and who is moving in?
Rowan County has grown about 2% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Huntington, WV.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Rowan County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Rowan County, month by month
Rowan County sees roughly 72 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 40, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40° | 32° | 26° |
| April | 67° | 55° | 45° |
| July | 87° | 76° | 67° |
| October | 70° | 58° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Rowan County
The nearest airport, Tri-State/Milton J Ferguson Field, is about 49 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International, about 89 miles away.
The best schools in and around Rowan County
Schools across Rowan County average a C, better than 29% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Mcbrayer Elementary SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Tilden Hogge Elementary SchoolC · 30% proficient
- Rodburn Elementary SchoolD+ · 23% proficient
Top middle schools
- Rowan County Middle SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Bluegrass Discovery Academy MiddleD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Rowan County Senior High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Rowan County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Rowan 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 Rowan County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Rowan County suits
Common questions about living in Rowan County
Is Rowan County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Rowan County ranks 2,493rd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on tree cover, affordable childcare, and heat safety, and lowest on car insurance costs and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Rowan County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $165,681. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $53,708 median income, cost of living beats 21% of counties.
Is Rowan County safe?
Rowan County is safer than 32% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $360 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Rowan County?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 40 with lows near 26. That works out to about 72 pleasant days a year, more than 25% of counties.
Is Rowan County good for families?
Schools beat 29% of counties, crime safety beats 32%, and childcare runs $517 a month.
Compare Rowan County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Rowan County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Rowan 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.
Rowan County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Rowan County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Rowan County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Rowan County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Rowan County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Rowan 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.