Best PlacesSomerset, KY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Somerset, 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.
Somerset ranks 1,930th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and health outcomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Somerset
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.
Somerset's strengths and weaknesses
Where Somerset ranks high
- Cheap childcare$476 a month, better than 99% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than 87% of cities
- Short commute21.1 minutes each way, better than 82% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than 73% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 70% of cities
Where Somerset ranks low
- Health outlookBetter than only 1% of cities
- BikingBetter than only 3% of cities
- Household income$55,019 median, better than only 4% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than only 6% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than only 9% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Somerset
A household needs to earn about $45,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Somerset home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $55,019, 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 Somerset's effective rate of 0.59%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Somerset
Somerset runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Somerset.
Who works in Somerset, and how
Work in Somerset 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 90%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Somerset
Somerset has more restaurants and bars per resident than 78% of cities and more parkland per resident than 80% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Somerset and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Somerset, month by month
Somerset sees roughly 80 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 45, 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 | 45° | 36° | 29° |
| April | 69° | 56° | 46° |
| July | 87° | 76° | 67° |
| October | 71° | 58° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Somerset
The nearest airport, Blue Grass, is about 66 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Nashville International, about 133 miles away.
The best schools in and around Somerset
Schools across Somerset average a C+, better than 42% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Oak Hill Elementary SchoolA · 67% proficient
- Shopville Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Keavy Elementary SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
Top middle schools
- Northern Middle SchoolB− · 41% proficient
- Southern Middle SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
- Meece Middle SchoolC · 33% proficient
Top high schools
- Southwestern High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Pulaski County High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- North Laurel High SchoolC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Somerset school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Somerset 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 Somerset against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Somerset suits
Common questions about living in Somerset
Is Somerset a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Somerset ranks 1,930th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on affordable childcare, low property taxes, and short commutes, 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 Somerset expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $178,309. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $55,019 median income, cost of living beats 13% of cities.
Is Somerset safe?
Somerset is safer than 25% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $359 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Somerset?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 45 with lows near 29. That works out to about 80 pleasant days a year, more than 44% of cities.
Is Somerset good for families?
Schools beat 42% of cities, crime safety beats 25%, and childcare runs $476 a month.
Compare Somerset with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Somerset. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Somerset 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.
Somerset detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Somerset: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Somerset: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Somerset: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Somerset: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Somerset 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.