Best PlacesTolu, KY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Tolu, 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.
Tolu ranks 45,234th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Tolu
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.
Tolu's strengths and weaknesses
Where Tolu ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 93% of towns
- Short commute21.4 minutes each way, better than 82% of towns
- Cheap childcare$591 a month, better than 79% of towns
- QuietBetter than 76% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 67% of towns
Where Tolu ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 1% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 55 pleasant days a year, better than only 3% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 7% of towns
- Household income$44,659 median, better than only 7% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 12% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Tolu
A household needs to earn about $29,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Tolu home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $44,659, 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 Tolu's effective rate of 0.74%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Tolu
Tolu runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Tolu.
Who works in Tolu, and how
Work in Tolu centers on other services and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Tolu
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Tolu.
What the weather is like in Tolu, month by month
Tolu sees roughly 55 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 45, with lows near 28. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45° | 36° | 28° |
| April | 71° | 58° | 48° |
| July | 89° | 78° | 70° |
| October | 73° | 60° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Tolu
The nearest airport, Barkley Regional, is about 37 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Nashville International, about 125 miles away.
The best schools in and around Tolu
Schools across Tolu average a C−, better than 28% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Crittenden County Elementary SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top middle schools
- Crittenden County Middle SchoolD+ · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- Crittenden County High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Tolu school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Tolu 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 Tolu against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Tolu
Is Tolu a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Tolu ranks 45,234th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a stable housing market, short commutes, and affordable childcare, and lowest on internet speeds and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Tolu expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $113,200. The overall cost of living runs about 24% below the national average. Set against a $44,659 median income, cost of living beats 16% of towns.
Is Tolu safe?
Yes, Tolu is safer than 62% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $240 per resident a year.
Compare Tolu with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Tolu. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Tolu 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.
Tolu detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Tolu: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Tolu: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Tolu: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Tolu: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Tolu 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.