Best PlacesWoodford County, KY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Woodford County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Woodford County ranks 656th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on an educated workforce by a wide margin, and car insurance costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Woodford 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.
Woodford County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Woodford County ranks high
- Educational attainmentBetter than 90% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 90% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 88% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 88% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 85% of counties
Where Woodford County ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 15% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 29% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 35% of counties
- TransitBetter than only 35% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 35% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Woodford County
A household needs to earn about $76,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Woodford County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $85,114, 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 Woodford County's effective rate of 0.70%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Woodford County
Woodford County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Woodford County.
Who works in Woodford County, and how
Work in Woodford County centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Woodford County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Woodford County.
Is Woodford County growing, and who is moving in?
Woodford County has grown about 8% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Lexington, KY metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Woodford County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Woodford County, month by month
Woodford County sees roughly 104 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 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° | 46° |
| July | 86° | 76° | 67° |
| October | 70° | 59° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Woodford County
The nearest airport, Blue Grass, is about 6 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International, about 69 miles away.
The best schools in and around Woodford County
Schools across Woodford County average a B−, better than 61% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Southside Elementary SchoolB− · 44% proficient
- Northside Elementary SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Huntertown Elementary SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Top middle schools
- Woodford County Middle SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Top high schools
- Woodford County High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Safe Harbor AcademyD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Woodford County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Woodford 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 Woodford County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Woodford County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 88% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 14% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 63% of counties and health care access beats 79%.
Common questions about living in Woodford County
Is Woodford County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Woodford County ranks 656th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on an educated workforce, heat safety, and what local pay buys, and lowest on car insurance costs and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Woodford County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $295,609. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $85,114 median income, cost of living beats 88% of counties.
Is Woodford County safe?
Yes, Woodford County is safer than 60% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $277 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Woodford County?
July highs average about 86 degrees, and January highs near 43 with lows near 27. That works out to about 104 pleasant days a year, more than 63% of counties.
Is Woodford County good for families?
Schools beat 61% of counties, crime safety beats 60%, and childcare runs $667 a month.
Compare Woodford County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Woodford County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Woodford 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.
Woodford County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Woodford County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Woodford County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Woodford County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Woodford County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Woodford 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.