QoL Rank
Loading map…

Kentucky

Kentucky has a quality of life score of 47/100 (C, average) and ranks #32 of 51 states. Its strongest category is cost of living (71) and its weakest is quality of life (18). Its top-rated larger counties are Boone County, Oldham County, Campbell County.

  • Safety: 44
  • Cost of living: 71
  • Education: 54
  • Quality of life: 18

Key figures: violent crime 218.9 per 100,000 people a year (US 345.2); median rent $967 a month; median home value $205,600; median household income $61,099; life expectancy 73.3 years.

Counties in Kentucky, best first

  1. Boone County 70
  2. Oldham County 70
  3. Campbell County 65
  4. Kenton County 65
  5. Woodford County 64
  6. Edmonson County 59
  7. Spencer County 59
  8. Jessamine County 58
  9. Boyle County 58
  10. Meade County 57
  11. Scott County 56
  12. Bath County 56
  13. Hardin County 56
  14. Taylor County 56
  15. Mercer County 55
  16. Greenup County 54
  17. Calloway County 54
  18. Anderson County 54
  19. Laurel County 54
  20. Daviess County 53
  21. McCracken County 53
  22. Simpson County 53
  23. Fayette County 53
  24. Pulaski County 53
  25. Green County 53
  26. Madison County 53
  27. Shelby County 52
  28. Morgan County 52
  29. Rowan County 52
  30. Grant County 52
  31. Caldwell County 51
  32. Hopkins County 51
  33. Marshall County 51
  34. Logan County 51
  35. Franklin County 50
  36. Hart County 50
  37. Marion County 50
  38. McLean County 50
  39. Bullitt County 50
  40. Montgomery County 50
  41. Perry County 50
  42. Warren County 50
  43. Rockcastle County 49
  44. Nelson County 49
  45. Fleming County 49
  46. Boyd County 49
  47. Todd County 49
  48. Washington County 49
  49. Ballard County 48
  50. Henderson County 48
  51. Russell County 48
  52. Wayne County 48
  53. Muhlenberg County 48
  54. Carter County 48
  55. Clark County 48
  56. Union County 48
  57. Whitley County 48
  58. Harlan County 47
  59. Monroe County 47
  60. Pendleton County 47
  61. Lyon County 47
  62. Graves County 46
  63. Clay County 46
  64. Ohio County 46
  65. Webster County 46
  66. Bourbon County 46
  67. Pike County 46
  68. Clinton County 46
  69. Johnson County 46
  70. Butler County 45
  71. Harrison County 45
  72. Adair County 45
  73. Owen County 45
  74. Garrard County 45
  75. Larue County 45
  76. Grayson County 45
  77. Barren County 45
  78. Livingston County 44
  79. Crittenden County 44
  80. Allen County 44
  81. Casey County 44
  82. Lincoln County 44
  83. McCreary County 44
  84. Gallatin County 43
  85. Breckinridge County 43
  86. Trigg County 43
  87. Carroll County 43
  88. Bracken County 42
  89. Letcher County 42
  90. Metcalfe County 42
  91. Robertson County 42
  92. Lawrence County 42
  93. Carlisle County 41
  94. Lewis County 41
  95. Mason County 41
  96. Floyd County 40
  97. Cumberland County 40
  98. Hickman County 39
  99. Hancock County 37
  100. Jefferson County 37
  101. Henry County 36
  102. Leslie County 36
  103. Bell County 36
  104. Knox County 36
  105. Nicholas County 36
  106. Estill County 36
  107. Jackson County 35
  108. Elliott County 35
  109. Christian County 33
  110. Knott County 33
  111. Lee County 32
  112. Trimble County 32
  113. Menifee County 32
  114. Martin County 29
  115. Owsley County 29
  116. Breathitt County 27
  117. Fulton County 27
  118. Wolfe County 24
  119. Powell County 23
  120. Magoffin County 22

Your priorities

Choose how much each category counts toward the overall score. The map, rankings and every place’s overall score update as you go.

About the data

Every county is compared with every other US county, and every state with the other states.

Each measure becomes a percentile from 0 to 100, where 100 is always best. For crime, deaths, disaster risk, costs and commutes, the lowest value is best. A category score averages its measures’ percentiles and is then scaled so all four categories have the same spread around 50, so each counts equally. The overall score is the average of the four. 50 is a typical place, and most land between 35 and 65. Your priorities lets you weight the categories differently.

Grades: A 65 and up, B 55–64, C 45–54, D 35–44, F under 35.

Each category lists a county’s own figures next to its state’s and the US figures. Under the state and US columns, Difference shows whether the county is higher or lower, as a share of that figure (hover for the exact gap). Rank shows where it ranks instead: “ranked 75%” means it does better than 75% of the counties in its state, or in the US. A green arrow or dot means the county does better, red means worse.

Compare puts any two places side by side, counties or states, in any state. The better value in each row is highlighted.

A county gets an overall score only if all four categories have data and at least 60% of the measures are present. Small counties often have suppressed data, and without this rule they rank at the top on just a few numbers. Top 10 lists only include counties with at least 10,000 people.

What’s measured

Limitations

Sources