Best PlacesThomas, KY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Thomas, 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.
Thomas ranks 48,278th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and thin health care access ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Thomas
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.
Thomas' strengths and weaknesses
Where Thomas ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Cheap childcare$545 a month, better than 88% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 78% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 72% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 67% of towns
Where Thomas ranks low
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 3% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 4% of towns
- School gradeD, better than only 8% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Thomas
A household needs to earn about $29,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Thomas home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $48,791, 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 Thomas' effective rate of 0.71%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Thomas
Thomas runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Thomas.
Who works in Thomas, and how
Work in Thomas centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 95%
- Work from home 2%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Thomas
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Thomas.
What the weather is like in Thomas, month by month
Thomas sees roughly 71 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 47, with lows near 28. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47° | 36° | 28° |
| April | 72° | 58° | 46° |
| July | 88° | 76° | 66° |
| October | 73° | 60° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Thomas
The nearest airport, Tri-State/Milton J Ferguson Field, is about 43 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International, about 142 miles away.
The best schools in and around Thomas
Schools across Thomas average a D, better than 8% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Johns Creek Elementary SchoolD+ · 22% proficient
- Porter Elementary SchoolD · 20% proficient
- Inez Elementary SchoolD− · 15% proficient
Top middle schools
- James D. Adams Middle SchoolD · 20% proficient
Top high schools
- Paintsville High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
- Prestonsburg High SchoolD · 23% proficient
- Martin County High SchoolD · 22% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Thomas school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Thomas 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 Thomas against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Thomas
Is Thomas a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Thomas ranks 48,278th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on tree cover, affordable childcare, and clean air, and lowest on thin health care access and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Thomas expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $112,245. The overall cost of living runs about 24% below the national average. Set against a $48,791 median income, cost of living beats 12% of towns.
Is Thomas safe?
Thomas is safer than 24% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $372 per resident a year.
Compare Thomas with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Thomas. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Thomas 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.
Thomas detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Thomas: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Thomas: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Thomas: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Thomas: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Thomas 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.