Best PlacesSpencer County, KY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Spencer County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Spencer County ranks 692nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on what local pay buys by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Spencer 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.
Spencer County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Spencer County ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 96% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 94% of counties
- Household income$104,346 median, better than 94% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 92% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 85% of counties
Where Spencer County ranks low
- Short commute32.7 minutes each way, better than only 8% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 62 pleasant days a year, better than only 8% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 10% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 10% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 11% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Spencer County
A household needs to earn about $81,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Spencer County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $104,346, 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 Spencer County's effective rate of 0.66%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Spencer County
Spencer County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Spencer County.
Who works in Spencer County, and how
Work in Spencer County centers on manufacturing 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 84%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Spencer County
Spencer County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Spencer County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Spencer County growing, and who is moving in?
Spencer County has grown about 17% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Louisville, KY metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Spencer County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Spencer County, month by month
Spencer County sees roughly 62 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 46, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 46° | 36° | 26° |
| April | 71° | 58° | 45° |
| July | 90° | 79° | 69° |
| October | 74° | 60° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Spencer County
The nearest airport, Louisville Muhammad Ali International, is about 22 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International, about 77 miles away.
The best schools in and around Spencer County
Schools across Spencer County average a C+, better than 48% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Spencer County Elementary SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Taylorsville Elementary SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Top middle schools
- Spencer County Middle SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top high schools
- Spencer County High SchoolC · 34% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Spencer County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Spencer 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 Spencer County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Spencer County
Is Spencer County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Spencer County ranks 692nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on what local pay buys, civic engagement, and high incomes, and lowest on long commutes and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Spencer County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $316,858. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $104,346 median income, cost of living beats 96% of counties.
Is Spencer County safe?
Yes, Spencer County is safer than 85% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $224 per resident a year.
Compare Spencer County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Spencer County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Spencer 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.
Spencer County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Spencer County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Spencer County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Spencer County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Spencer County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Spencer 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.