2023 Best Places to Live in the Lexington Area

• Town in Kentucky

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  Rating 4.35 out of 5  23 reviews

Current Resident: Wilmore has a "Mayberry" feel to it even with modern advancements. It is a pretty small town, but it often has visitors from and citizens from all over the world due to the popular education institutions of Asbury University and Asbury Theological Seminary. While predominantly White, Wilmore's population has quite a diverse minority group due to the seminary's draw for plenty of international students that usually end up staying after finishing their degree. It has many thriving local businesses because shopping local is important to most of the residents in the area. While it continues to grow, it has seemed to maintain its dedication to it's citizens by supporting decisions geared towards local leadership and community mindedness.... Read 23 reviews

• grade A

• grade B+

• Population 6,025

• City in Kentucky

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  Rating 3.91 out of 5  883 reviews

Current Resident: I love my city! Lexington Kentucky is ever-growing, artistic, industrial, and community-minded. There are amazing community events, many local businesses, fantastic residents, and wonderful children. Horses and horse racing are a huge part of Lexington as it is home to Keeneland and the Red Mile. Lexington has great Derby parties as well. There are wonderful hotels, fine dining, and chic nightlife. Overall, I would never want to live anywhere other than here. No other city that I know has an amazing landscape full of country residential homes, great neighborhoods, horse farms, and amazing downtown condos and apartments. Lexington is home to the University of Kentucky, whose basketball teams are champions on and off the court. UK also has a world-renowned hospital as well as football, baseball, and women's sports teams.... Read 883 reviews

• grade A

• grade A minus

• Population 321,354

• Town in Kentucky

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  Rating 4.36 out of 5  28 reviews

Current Resident: Versailles is a beautiful small town that has lots of appeal. With it being such a little area, there is some great places to visit. Downtown has some of my favorite restaurants. The Rolling Oven is a town favorite! They have the best pizzas you will ever try and have amazing appetizers like wings, cheese bread, and roasted brussel sprouts. Kristen's Kreations bakery is also a go to stop. They have some of the best sweets, with some personal favorites being the cake popsicles, chocolate bundt cakes, and their decadent cupcakes. You can also find your local coffee shop and a Starbucks very close by. There are also some great shops like the Yellow Rose and My Darling Co. It has a great and safe small town feel but, if you aren't a huge horse person, you might get bored. Outside of those things, everything else is horse farms. If you want the small town feel, you will get that southern hospitality here!... Read 28 reviews

• grade A minus

• grade A

• Population 10,196

• Town in Kentucky

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  Rating 3.57 out of 5  100 reviews

Current Resident: I love Frankfort! I have grown up here my entire life and there are so many different parts of the community that play an important role in my life. First of all, the competition between the High School in the area for sports is incredible. We always have so many students/fans at the games and it is a blast. Second, the churches and the youth groups play such an important part in my life. Third, my neighborhood. The people in Frankfort are generally so kind and friendly, because most of the time we all know each other. But everyone is so caring and that is what makes Frankfort such an amazing place to live.... Read 100 reviews

• grade B+

• grade B minus

• Population 28,479

• Town in Kentucky

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  Rating 3.74 out of 5  66 reviews

Works Here: As a whole, Georgetown is a medium size city that still feels like a small-town. The only issues I see are the city government cater too much to Toyota instead of making Toyota pay taxes that would help the city out as a whole. Also, there’s a bunch of chicken restaurants but not a lot of other food options. They need to get more diversity in the restaurants in Georgetown... Read 66 reviews

• grade B+

• grade B

• Population 36,281

• Town in Kentucky

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  Rating 4.05 out of 5  109 reviews

Current Resident: Richmond is a small town, however it holds a lot to love. Richmond is a tightly knit community within 30 mins driving distance of Lexington. Anything we do not have here, we can reach just a few miles down the road. We have a lovely, huge park and many car dealerships. We are also a college town, home to Eastern Kentucky University, which, since we are a small town and the surrounding areas are usually low-income, is VERY affordable. I love my hometown from the bottom of my heart, and although we have a lot of issues, its still home.... Read 109 reviews

• grade B

• grade B

• Population 34,662

• Town in Kentucky

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  Rating 3.89 out of 5  83 reviews

Current Resident: Rural community in Kentucky south of Lexington. Go-getter, family friendly culture. Fresh food flavors, locally grown and raised food options for the best flavors! Beautiful scenery with plentiful photograph opportunities. I would love to see a slower pace in the people around me. Everyone seems to be in a hurry.... Read 83 reviews

• grade B

• grade B

• Population 31,066

• Town in Kentucky

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  Rating 3.37 out of 5  62 reviews

Current Resident: We've lived in Winchester for almost 2 years and purchased a home last year. Everyone is incredibly friendly and goes out of their way to make you feel welcome. There have been some new restaurants in town that offer excellent food, as well as some gems that have been in town for some time. Highly recommend Engine House Pizza! Winchester Parks & Rec offers excellent community involvement and fitness options for all ages. The community has contributed to updating parks and creating many family friendly activities throughout the year. The cost and overall quality of childcare has been great, much less expensive than Lexington, and we feel our son gets excellent care. We've really enjoyed this small town and look forward to what the future holds for the community!... Read 62 reviews

• grade B minus

• grade B

• Population 18,993

• Town in Kentucky

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  Rating 3.5 out of 5  42 reviews

Current Resident: I used to visit my dad every other weekend in Lawrenceburg when I was younger because my mom and I lived in Frankfort. I always loved the small-town feel. I am now 25 with a husband and three daughters. We were renting in Frankfort for about 4 years and we finally had the financial availability to buy a house. I knew exactly where I wanted to move/live, Lawrenceburg. The schools here are amazing and the people here are some of the nicest and most genuine people I have met. We've now lived here for 2 years and my daughter has made plenty of friends. The parks here and great for my children and the downtown area feels like a Hallmark movie.... Read 42 reviews

• grade B minus

• grade B minus

• Population 11,675

• Town in Kentucky

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  Rating 3.09 out of 5  11 reviews

Current Resident: Paris is a quaint town with much to offer. There are many historic buildings and sites around the city, as well as great locally-owner shops scattered among Main Street.... Read 11 reviews

• grade C+

• grade C+

• Population 10,202

• Town in Kentucky

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  Rating 5 out of 5  4 reviews

Current Resident: Being a resident of Midway for my entire 16 years, I can say this is one of the ideal places to grow up. The walk into downtown is no more than 6 or 8 minutes, as well as a beautiful nature life. Majority of the people who have chosen to live in Midway are kind individuals who will smile as you walk by.... Read 4 reviews

• grade A

• grade A

• Population 1,786

• Town in Kentucky

• grade B

• grade B

• Population 977

• Town in Kentucky

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  Rating 4 out of 5  1 review

Current Resident: Salvisa is a great small town if you're looking into farming or just living outside of the city. Enough options right outside of town in either Lawrenceburg or Harrodsburg, if you don't mind the drive.... Read 1 review

• grade B minus

• grade B minus

• Population 281

• Town in Kentucky

• grade unavailable

• grade unavailable

• Population 87