Best PlacesRussell Springs, KY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Russell Springs, 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.
Russell Springs ranks 40,520th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and health outcomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Russell Springs
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.
Russell Springs' strengths and weaknesses
Where Russell Springs ranks high
- Cheap childcare$439 a month, better than 97% of towns
- Short commute19.5 minutes each way, better than 89% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 80% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 79% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 67% of towns
Where Russell Springs ranks low
- Health outlookBetter than only 10% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 10% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 12% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 64 pleasant days a year, better than only 15% of towns
- Household income$52,615 median, better than only 16% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Russell Springs
A household needs to earn about $43,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Russell Springs home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $52,615, 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 Russell Springs' effective rate of 0.48%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Russell Springs
Russell Springs'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 Russell Springs.
Who works in Russell Springs, and how
Work in Russell Springs centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Russell Springs
Russell Springs has more restaurants and bars per resident than 73% of towns and more parkland per resident than 88% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Russell Springs and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Russell Springs, month by month
Russell Springs sees roughly 64 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 48, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 48° | 35° | 25° |
| April | 71° | 57° | 43° |
| July | 89° | 76° | 65° |
| October | 74° | 58° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Russell Springs
The nearest airport, Blue Grass, is about 72 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Nashville International, about 111 miles away.
The best schools in and around Russell Springs
Schools across Russell Springs average a C, better than 33% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Walnut Hill Elementary SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Salem Elementary SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Russell Springs Elementary SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Russell County Middle SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Casey County Middle SchoolC · 31% proficient
- Adair County Middle SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
Top high schools
- Casey County High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
- Russell County High SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Wayne County High SchoolC− · 26% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Russell Springs school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Russell Springs 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 Russell Springs against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Russell Springs
Is Russell Springs a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Russell Springs ranks 40,520th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, short commutes, and walkability, and lowest on health outcomes and thin health care access. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Russell Springs expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $170,530. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $52,615 median income, cost of living beats 21% of towns.
Is Russell Springs safe?
Russell Springs is safer than 35% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $320 per resident a year.
Compare Russell Springs with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Russell Springs. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Russell Springs 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.
Russell Springs detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Russell Springs: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Russell Springs: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Russell Springs: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Russell Springs: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Russell Springs 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.