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Hardinsburg, Kentucky

Hardinsburg is a small town of about 2,500 people in Breckinridge County, Kentucky. It's the county seat. It has grown about 5% since 2020. A typical home costs about 2.7 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 52 miles away as the crow flies.

County seat

Population
2,513
up 5.1% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$150,800
Breckinridge County prices up 24% since 2022
Household income
$55,795
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, rural Kentucky
85.3
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
In town
Breckinridge Memorial Hospital
To Louisville/Jefferson County
52 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 14.7% below the U.S. average in the parts of Kentucky outside metro areas.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 2.7 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood1 violent crime was reported in 2025, about 0.4 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 1.6 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town2 public schools: 1 elementary and 1 middle. No public high school in town: the nearest is Breckinridge County High School, about 2 miles away.
  • A hospital close byBreckinridge Memorial Hospital is in town and has an emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityLouisville/Jefferson County is about 52 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 Hardinsburg 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.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$150,800U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 24%Breckinridge County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$766 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$55,795U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
60%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$1,030 a yearKentucky: $1,544
Homes built before 1940
6%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
3%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
0%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
85.3U.S. average = 100 (the parts of Kentucky outside metro areas)

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 24% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the parts of Kentucky outside metro areas, not Hardinsburg 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
2,5132020: 2,390
Median age
43.2 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
29%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
19%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
18%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
2%U.S.: 6%

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 (29%); manufacturing (26%); retail (16%)
Unemployment rate
5%U.S.: 5%
Work from home
1%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
18%U.S.: 12%

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

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Breckinridge Memorial Hospital, Hardinsburg, KY, in town. It's a critical access hospital (a small rural hospital with 25 or fewer beds). Medicare gives it 1 of 5 stars.

Nearest general hospital: Owensboro Health Twin Lakes Medical Center, Leitchfield, KY, about 23 miles away. 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

2 public schools in Hardinsburg, run by Breckinridge County. The nearest public high school is Breckinridge County High School, about 2 miles away.

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
69%U.S.: 76%

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
84°F
Days 90°F or hotter
8 a year
Nights at or below freezing
94 a year
Rain and melted snow
51.5 inches a year
Snow
4 inches a year
Elevation
707 feet

Weather stations: Mcdaniels (8 miles away) and Rough Rvr Lake (11 miles away, rain and snow). 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: Owensboro, Louisville/Jefferson County.

Breckinridge County is outside any metro area, with fewer than 5,000 people in its towns, next to a metro area (USDA rural-urban code 8, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Mammoth Cave National Park36 miles
  • Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial38 miles
  • Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park42 miles

Read about Hardinsburg's history on Wikipedia.

Know Hardinsburg?

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

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.