Best PlacesWaterford, KY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Waterford, 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.
Waterford ranks 18,624th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on few empty homes by a wide margin, and car insurance costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Waterford
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.
Waterford's strengths and weaknesses
Where Waterford ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 94% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 91% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 80% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 79% of towns
- Household income$88,952 median, better than 76% of towns
Where Waterford ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 11% of towns
- Short commute33.4 minutes each way, better than only 19% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 22% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 24% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Waterford
A household needs to earn about $79,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Waterford home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $88,952, 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 Waterford's effective rate of 0.65%, 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 Waterford
Waterford's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Waterford.
Who works in Waterford, and how
Work in Waterford 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 86%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Waterford
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Waterford.
What the weather is like in Waterford, month by month
Waterford sees roughly 73 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 34° | 27° |
| April | 67° | 55° | 45° |
| July | 87° | 76° | 67° |
| October | 70° | 58° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Waterford
The nearest airport, Louisville Muhammad Ali International, is about 19 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International, about 81 miles away.
The best schools in and around Waterford
Schools across Waterford average a C+, better than 45% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Spencer County 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 Waterford school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Waterford 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 Waterford against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Waterford
Is Waterford a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Waterford ranks 18,624th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on few empty homes, fast internet, and tree cover, and lowest on car insurance costs and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Waterford expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $307,967. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $88,952 median income, cost of living beats 74% of towns.
Is Waterford safe?
Yes, Waterford is safer than 70% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $222 per resident a year.
Compare Waterford with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Waterford. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Waterford 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.
Waterford detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Waterford: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Waterford: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Waterford: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Waterford: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Waterford 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.