The 10 Best Suburbs In Kentucky For 2026

The best suburbs in Kentucky are Edgewood and Fort Thomas for 2026 based on Saturday Night Science.

Are you sick of being a city slicker?

Do you long for life in suburban Kentucky? Where you can drive an overly-large vehicle to the store for groceries and schlep the kids around to practices and appointments without worrying about a parking space.

We do, too.

If you wanted to move out to the suburbs in Kentucky, where would you go? And how would you decide on the ranking factors to help you pick which Kentucky suburb was best?

No worries. We got it all figured out here using Saturday Night Science.

1

No. 1 best suburb in Kentucky

Edgewood, KY

8,447 peopleSnackAbility 7/10
7/10
Edgewood, KY
Source: Public domain
$119,028 median income · $361,115 median home price
Map of Edgewood within Kentucky Located in Kenton County, Kentucky
Median income +87% vs KY
$119,028
KY $64k
Median home value +56% vs KY
$361,115
KY $232k
2

No. 2 best suburb in Kentucky

Fort Thomas, KY

17,169 peopleSnackAbility 9.5/10
9.5/10
Fort Thomas, KY
Source: Public domain
$104,350 median income · $368,293 median home price
Map of Fort Thomas within Kentucky Located in Campbell County, Kentucky
Median income +64% vs KY
$104,350
KY $64k
Median home value +59% vs KY
$368,293
KY $232k

Fort Thomas is a home rule-class city in Campbell County, Kentucky, United States, on the southern bank of the Ohio River and the site of an 1890 US Army post. The population was 16,325 at the 2010 census, making it the largest city in Campbell County and it is officially part of the Cincinnati – Northern Kentucky metropolitan area.

3

No. 3 best suburb in Kentucky

Fort Mitchell, KY

8,713 peopleSnackAbility 9.5/10
9.5/10
Fort Mitchell, KY
Source: Public domain
$86,310 median income · $398,735 median home price
Map of Fort Mitchell within Kentucky Located in Kenton County, Kentucky
Median income +35% vs KY
$86,310
KY $64k
Median home value +72% vs KY
$398,735
KY $232k

Fort Mitchell is a home rule-class city in Kenton County, Kentucky, in the United States. The population was 8,207 at the 2010 census.

4

No. 4 best suburb in Kentucky

Union, KY

7,642 peopleSnackAbility 7/10
7/10
Union, KY
Source: Public domain
$136,712 median income · $449,093 median home price
Map of Union within Kentucky Located in Boone County, Kentucky
Median income +115% vs KY
$136,712
KY $64k
Median home value +94% vs KY
$449,093
KY $232k

Union is a home rule-class city in Boone County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 5,379 as of the 2010 United States Census. The area was rural until mass residential growth in the 1990s and 2000s.

5

No. 5 best suburb in Kentucky

Lakeside Park, KY

2,828 people
$128,650 median income · $344,828 median home price
Located in Kenton County, Kentucky
Median income +102% vs KY
$128,650
KY $64k
Median home value +49% vs KY
$344,828
KY $232k
6

No. 6 best suburb in Kentucky

Villa Hills, KY

7,480 peopleSnackAbility 9.5/10
9.5/10
$107,859 median income · $393,017 median home price
Map of Villa Hills within Kentucky Located in Kenton County, Kentucky
Median income +69% vs KY
$107,859
KY $64k
Median home value +69% vs KY
$393,017
KY $232k
7

No. 7 best suburb in Kentucky

Fort Wright, KY

5,887 peopleSnackAbility 9.5/10
9.5/10
Fort Wright, KY
Source: Wikipedia User roadroid @ Mapillary.com | CC BY-SA 4.0
$105,024 median income · $334,172 median home price
Map of Fort Wright within Kentucky Located in Kenton County, Kentucky
Median income +65% vs KY
$105,024
KY $64k
Median home value +44% vs KY
$334,172
KY $232k

Fort Wright is a home rule-class city in Kenton County, Kentucky, in the United States. The population was 5,723 at the 2010 census.

8

No. 8 best suburb in Kentucky

Park Hills, KY

3,165 peopleSnackAbility 7/10
7/10
$99,861 median income · $343,282 median home price
Located in Kenton County, Kentucky
Median income +57% vs KY
$99,861
KY $64k
Median home value +48% vs KY
$343,282
KY $232k
9

No. 9 best suburb in Kentucky

Bellevue, KY

5,636 peopleSnackAbility 6/10
6/10
Bellevue, KY
Source: Public domain
$71,166 median income · $245,119 median home price
Map of Bellevue within Kentucky Located in Campbell County, Kentucky
Median income +12% vs KY
$71,166
KY $64k
Median home value +6% vs KY
$245,119
KY $232k

Bellevue is a home rule-class city in Campbell County, Kentucky, in the United States. It is located along the southern bank of the Ohio River. The population was 5,955 at the 2010 census.

10

No. 10 best suburb in Kentucky

Independence, KY

29,392 peopleSnackAbility 6/10
6/10
Independence, KY
Source: Wikipedia User W.marsh | GFDL
$102,361 median income · $323,031 median home price
Map of Independence within Kentucky Located in Kenton County, Kentucky
Median income +61% vs KY
$102,361
KY $64k
Median home value +39% vs KY
$323,031
KY $232k

Independence is a home rule-class city in Kenton County, Kentucky, in the United States. It is one of its county’s two seats of government. Independence is a suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio, and the population was 24,757 at the time of the 2010 U.S. census.

The receipts

Compare the top ten

Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Kentucky’s statewide median.

City Median income vs KY
1 Edgewood $119,028 +87%
2 Fort Thomas $104,350 +64%
3 Fort Mitchell $86,310 +35%
4 Union $136,712 +115%
5 Lakeside Park $128,650 +102%
6 Villa Hills $107,859 +69%
7 Fort Wright $105,024 +65%
8 Park Hills $99,861 +57%
9 Bellevue $71,166 +12%
10 Independence $102,361 +61%

Kentucky statewide median: $63,726

City Median home value vs KY
1 Edgewood $361,115 +56%
2 Fort Thomas $368,293 +59%
3 Fort Mitchell $398,735 +72%
4 Union $449,093 +94%
5 Lakeside Park $344,828 +49%
6 Villa Hills $393,017 +69%
7 Fort Wright $334,172 +44%
8 Park Hills $343,282 +48%
9 Bellevue $245,119 +6%
10 Independence $323,031 +39%

Kentucky statewide median: $231,894

City Population vs KY
1 Edgewood 8,447
2 Fort Thomas 17,169
3 Fort Mitchell 8,713
4 Union 7,642
5 Lakeside Park 2,828
6 Villa Hills 7,480
7 Fort Wright 5,887
8 Park Hills 3,165
9 Bellevue 5,636
10 Independence 29,392

On the map

Where Kentucky’s best suburbs are

Saturday Night Science

Methodology: How we crunched the suburb numbers for the Bluegrass State

We have to use Saturday Night Science and look at several metrics to give you the best suburbs in Kentucky. We want to measure the type of place around major cities that people arguing at a bar would say makes it the “best suburb.”

First, we had to define a suburb. Using U.S. Census data produced for the state of Kentucky, we looked at every town with at least 2,000 residents, and within 30 miles of a city that’s over 200,000 people.

In other words, suburbs.

We paid particular attention to the following criteria:

  • Median Home Values
  • Median Income
  • Population Density (Higher is Better)
  • Unemployment Rates
  • Commute Time
  • Education Levels
  • Health Insurance Coverage
  • Poverty Rates

We ranked each suburb in Kentucky across these criteria from one to 27, with one being the best.

We then took the average rank across all criteria, with the town posting the lowest overall score being crowned the winner of the title “Best Suburb To Live In Kentucky.”

The result is some of the safest, quietest, and ideal places to live in Kentucky.

Read on to see why Edgewood is the ‘burb with the most, while Covington is probably not the best place to live in Kentucky.

The full plate

The Best Suburbs In Kentucky

Click any column to sort. Search by city name.

RankCityPopulationMedian IncomeMedian Home Price
1Edgewood8,447$119,028$361,115
2Fort Thomas17,169$104,350$368,293
3Fort Mitchell8,713$86,310$398,735
4Union7,642$136,712$449,093
5Lakeside Park2,828$128,650$344,828
6Villa Hills7,480$107,859$393,017
7Fort Wright5,887$105,024$334,172
8Park Hills3,165$99,861$343,282
9Bellevue5,636$71,166$245,119
10Independence29,392$102,361$323,031
11Alexandria10,562$102,239$338,680
12Taylor Mill6,937$88,546$276,590
13Crescent Springs4,486$83,066$310,074
13Cold Spring6,341$75,000$302,336
15Crestview Hills3,284$95,441$318,527
16Erlanger19,875$75,840$245,646
17Ludlow4,378$65,284$213,778
18Elsmere9,205$60,503$222,955
19Wilder3,135$70,893$211,532
20Walton5,730$77,917$349,337
21Southgate3,717$54,421$223,419
22Florence32,803$71,003$286,328
23Dayton5,743$65,992$200,111
24Crittenden4,084$57,283$286,493
25Highland Heights6,444$53,275$205,650
26Newport13,967$60,853$242,641
27Covington41,110$61,166$221,429

Source: U.S. Census ACS via Saturday Night Science. 27 Kentucky suburbs within 30 miles of a city over 200,000.

Summary

Summary: There You Have It – The Best Suburbs In Kentucky

If you’re measuring the locations in Kentucky where there are lots to do, and everyone wants to live, this is an accurate list.

The best suburbs in Kentucky are Edgewood, Fort Thomas, Fort Mitchell, Union, Lakeside Park, Villa Hills, Fort Wright, Park Hills, Bellevue, and Independence.

Chris Kolmar
About the author

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.

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