Best PlacesTar Fork, KY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Tar Fork, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Tar Fork ranks 32,712th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. The weather pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on what local pay buys.
The best neighborhoods in Tar Fork
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.
Tar Fork's strengths and weaknesses
Where Tar Fork ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 83% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 78% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 69% of towns
- Household income$83,038 median, better than 68% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 67% of towns
Where Tar Fork ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 59 pleasant days a year, better than only 7% of towns
- Short commute36.7 minutes each way, better than only 10% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 13% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 15% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 15% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Tar Fork
A household needs to earn about $41,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Tar Fork home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $83,038, 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 Tar Fork'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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Tar Fork
Tar Fork runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Tar Fork.
Who works in Tar Fork, and how
Work in Tar Fork centers on manufacturing and construction. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 95%
- Work from home 1%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Tar Fork
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Tar Fork.
What the weather is like in Tar Fork, month by month
Tar Fork sees roughly 59 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 28. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 35° | 28° |
| April | 70° | 58° | 48° |
| July | 89° | 79° | 70° |
| October | 72° | 60° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Tar Fork
The nearest airport, Owensboro/Daviess County Regional, is about 33 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Nashville International, about 118 miles away.
The best schools in and around Tar Fork
Schools across Tar Fork average a C+, better than 41% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Hardinsburg Elementary SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- South Hancock Elementary SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Top middle schools
- Breckinridge County Middle SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top high schools
- Breckinridge County High SchoolC− · 29% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Tar Fork school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Tar Fork 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 Tar Fork against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Tar Fork
Is Tar Fork a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Tar Fork ranks 32,712th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on what local pay buys, tree cover, and low crime, and lowest on the weather and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Tar Fork expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $160,337. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $83,038 median income, cost of living beats 83% of towns.
Is Tar Fork safe?
Yes, Tar Fork is safer than 69% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $221 per resident a year.
Compare Tar Fork with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Tar Fork. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Tar Fork 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.
Tar Fork detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Tar Fork: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Tar Fork: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Tar Fork: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Tar Fork: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Tar Fork 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.