Best PlacesWarren County, KY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Warren County, 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.
Warren County ranks 1,468th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It does not top any single list, but it lands above the national middle on a strong job market and few empty homes. The weaker spots are the weather, noise, and car insurance costs.
The best neighborhoods in Warren 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.
The best areas in Warren County
The parts of Warren County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Alvaton
Local pay stretches further, incomes run higher, and more residents vote.
Smiths Grove
Fewer adults hold degrees and streets are more car-dependent.
Bowling Green
Health care is harder to reach and more homes sit empty.
Scores across Warren County run from about the 6th to the 87th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Warren County's strengths and weaknesses
Warren County lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. A strong job market, few empty homes, and fast internet carry most of that.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. The weather, noise, and car insurance costs hold the score down. The detail is below, and the map is where it turns into a choice of neighborhood rather than just a place.
Where Warren County ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 85% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 84% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 80% of counties
- Cheap childcare$570 a month, better than 77% of counties
- Short commute20.3 minutes each way, better than 77% of counties
Where Warren County ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 65 pleasant days a year, better than only 13% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 13% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 14% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 18% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 30% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Warren County
A household needs to earn about $66,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Warren County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $72,039, 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 Warren County's effective rate of 0.64%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Warren County
Warren County runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Warren County.
Who works in Warren County, and how
Work in Warren County centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Warren County
Warren County has more parkland per resident than 66% of counties and less late-night activity than most counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Warren County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Warren County growing, and who is moving in?
Warren County has grown about 22% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Louisville, KY.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Warren County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Warren County, month by month
Warren County sees roughly 65 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 48, with lows near 31. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 48° | 38° | 31° |
| April | 72° | 60° | 49° |
| July | 90° | 80° | 72° |
| October | 74° | 62° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Warren County
Nashville International sits about 60 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 12.6 million passengers in 2025, with 158 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Warren County
Schools across Warren County average a C, better than 34% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Potter Gray ElementaryB+ · 52% proficient
- W R Mcneill Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Plano ElementaryB · 49% proficient
Top middle schools
- Drakes Creek Middle SchoolB+ · 47% proficient
- South Warren Middle SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Bowling Green Junior HighC+ · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- South Warren High SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Greenwood High SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Bowling Green High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Warren County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Warren 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 Warren County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Warren County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 8% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Warren County
Is Warren County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Warren County ranks 1,468th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on a strong job market, few empty homes, and fast internet, and lowest on the weather and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Warren County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $257,872. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $72,039 median income, cost of living beats 64% of counties.
Is Warren County safe?
Warren County is safer than 46% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $320 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Warren County?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 48 with lows near 31. That works out to about 65 pleasant days a year, more than 13% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Warren County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Alvaton, Smiths Grove, and Bowling Green. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Warren County good for families?
Schools beat 34% of counties, crime safety beats 46%, and childcare runs $570 a month.
Is Warren County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 64% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 80% of counties. About 8% of workers already work from home.
Compare Warren County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Warren County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Warren 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.
Warren County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Warren County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Warren County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Warren County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Warren County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Warren 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.