Best PlacesWolfe County, KY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Wolfe County, 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.
Wolfe County ranks 3,102nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and health outcomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Wolfe 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.
Wolfe County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Wolfe County ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 99% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 93% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 90% of counties
- Cheap childcare$545 a month, better than 84% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 78% of counties
Where Wolfe County ranks low
- Health outlookBetter than only 1% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 1% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 1% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 1% of counties
- Household income$32,580 median, better than only 1% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Wolfe County
A household needs to earn about $19,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Wolfe County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $32,580, 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 Wolfe County's effective rate of 0.37%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Wolfe County
Wolfe County's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Wolfe County.
Who works in Wolfe County, and how
Work in Wolfe County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Wolfe County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Wolfe County.
Is Wolfe County growing, and who is moving in?
Wolfe County has lost about 12% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Pike County, KY.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Wolfe County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Wolfe County, month by month
Wolfe County sees roughly 73 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 47, 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 | 47° | 36° | 27° |
| April | 72° | 58° | 46° |
| July | 87° | 76° | 67° |
| October | 73° | 60° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Wolfe County
The nearest airport, Blue Grass, is about 63 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International, about 110 miles away.
The best schools in and around Wolfe County
Schools across Wolfe County average a D+, better than 13% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Rogers Elementary SchoolD+ · 23% proficient
- Red River Valley Elementary SchoolD+ · 22% proficient
- North Magoffin ElementaryD · 20% proficient
Top middle schools
- Wolfe County Middle SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Morgan County Middle SchoolD · 20% proficient
- Herald Whitaker Middle SchoolD− · 18% proficient
Top high schools
- Morgan County High SchoolC− · 27% proficient
- Wolfe County High SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
- Breathitt County High SchoolD · 23% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Wolfe County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Wolfe 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 Wolfe County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Wolfe County
Is Wolfe County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Wolfe County ranks 3,102nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on tree cover, low property taxes, and a strong job market, and lowest on health outcomes and thin health care access. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Wolfe County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $79,038. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $32,580 median income, cost of living beats 1% of counties.
Is Wolfe County safe?
Wolfe County is safer than 22% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $396 per resident a year.
Compare Wolfe County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Wolfe County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Wolfe 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.
Wolfe County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Wolfe County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Wolfe County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Wolfe County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Wolfe County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Wolfe 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.