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Elizabethtown, Kentucky

Elizabethtown is a small city of about 35,000 people in Hardin County, Kentucky. It's the county seat. It's growing fast: its population is up 13% since 2020. A typical home costs about 4 years of the typical household's income, compared with 4.1 across the U.S. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Louisville/Jefferson County, is about 34 miles away as the crow flies.

Boom townCounty seat

Population
35,448
up 13% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$245,900
Hardin County prices up 22% since 2022
Household income
$60,760
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Elizabethtown area
90.6
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
In town
Baptist Health Hardin
To Louisville/Jefferson County
34 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 9.4% below the U.S. average in the Elizabethtown metro area.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 4 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood38 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 1.1 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 6.4 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town14 public schools: 7 elementary, 3 middle, 3 high schools and 1 other.
  • A hospital close byBaptist Health Hardin is in town and has an emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityLouisville/Jefferson County is about 34 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Elizabethtown meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

What kind of town

Boom town. The population is up 13% since 2020. Growing fast, with rising home values. Watch for chain stores and big apartment complexes: the small-town feel may not last.

The book sorts small towns into six types. These labels come only from the numbers; take the quiz to see which type fits your family.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$245,900U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 22%Hardin County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$909 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$60,760U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
49%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$1,740 a yearKentucky: $1,544
Homes built before 1940
5%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
15%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
1%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
90.6U.S. average = 100 (the Elizabethtown metro area)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 22% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Elizabethtown metro area, not Elizabethtown alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2025 estimate
35,4482020: 31,408
Median age
35.7 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
15%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
25%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
28%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
9%U.S.: 6%
College students
5%share of all residents

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Schools, health care and social services (21%); manufacturing (16%); retail (13%)
Unemployment rate
5%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
20 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
7%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
17%U.S.: 12%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Baptist Health Hardin, Elizabethtown, KY, in town. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 3 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

14 public schools in Elizabethtown, run by Hardin County and Elizabethtown Independent.

Colleges in or next to town: Elizabethtown Community and Technical College (5,000 to 9,999 students).

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on Kentucky's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Internet

Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet
73%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
88%U.S.: 91%

Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Weather

January average low
24°F
July average high
86°F
Days 90°F or hotter
21 a year
Nights at or below freezing
98 a year
Rain and melted snow
54.4 inches a year
Snow
4 inches a year
Elevation
742 feet

Weather station: Elizabethtown Wp Cs (2 miles away). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Jeffersonville, Louisville/Jefferson County.

Hardin County is in a metro area of fewer than 250,000 people (USDA rural-urban code 3, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

37 places on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Elizabethtown Courthouse Square and Commercial District, Hazel Hill and the Montgomery Avenue Historic District.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park14 miles
  • Mammoth Cave National Park31 miles

Read about Elizabethtown's history on Wikipedia.

Know Elizabethtown?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Smaller places

  • Cecilia, KY (unincorporated)503 people, 5 miles
  • Rineyville, KY (unincorporated)2,470 people, 5 miles
  • Boston, KY (unincorporated)195 people, 12 miles
  • Sonora, KY564 people, 12 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.