Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Anchorage grades A overall, 21st of 138 graded towns in Kentucky. Its schools score near the top of Kentucky on tests and graduation. Crime is low: it reports less per resident than 88% of U.S. towns and it is healthier than 84% of U.S. towns. The catch is cost: the typical home is worth about $854K, 11.6 years of the Louisville/Jefferson County metro’s $74K median household income. 84% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Anchorage, above both Kentucky’s towns (26%) and U.S. towns (29%). Its National Register listings include Nash-McDonald House and Shallcross. No town among the 142 in Kentucky we compare has a higher median household income than Anchorage.
Where Anchorage beats most towns.
Citizens National Life Insurance Building| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Anchorage Independent Public School | PK–8 | 392 |
| Bellewood | K–5 | 7 |
Census counts: 967 in 1880, a low of 384 in 1910, 2,500 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1910 and 6 maps from 1905 on.
34 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Kentucky), ordered by how far Anchorage is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Anchorage. Close and well known come first.
Big draw35 mi LandmarkUnited States Bullion Depository
13 mi Theme parkKentucky Kingdom
11 mi Stadium & arenaLynn Family Stadium
12 mi Stadium & arenaKFC Yum! Center
13 mi Stadium & arenaL&N Federal Credit Union StadiumUnited States Bullion Depository: Work permit Original author=Cliff, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Kentucky Kingdom: Stevietheman at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Lynn Family Stadium: Bpluke01, CC BY-SA 4.0 · KFC Yum! Center: Jamesmac96, CC BY 3.0 · L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium: Perthsider, CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Anchorage, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Anchorage.
Anchorage has schools in the top 5% of Kentucky and has less food insecurity than most of Kentucky, but it has homes that cost more against local pay than most of Kentucky.
Its A+ ranks #1 of the 139 Kentucky towns we grade for schools. Its A+ for schools comes with a D for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $854K.
Its public schools are run by the Anchorage Independent school district. One of its 2 schools is below, with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anchorage Independent Public SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–8 | Grades PK–8 | 392 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within KY on state tests
Violent crime is rare: 0 reported in 2025, 0 per 1,000 residents.
The violent crime rate in Anchorage is 0 per 1,000 residents.
| Anchorage | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0 per 1,000 residents | 1.3 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 3.9 per 1,000 residents | 8.3 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Its widest gap with Kentucky is food insecurity: 6.6% of its 1,693 adults worry about having enough food, against 15.5% statewide. Against the 965 U.S. towns with household incomes like Anchorage’s, it is less healthy than 89%: its national edge comes with its incomes.
6.6% of adults worry about having enough food in Anchorage. Anchorage beats the Kentucky average on 21 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 13% of adults report frequent mental distress in Anchorage.
| Anchorage | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 18% | 17% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 33% | 40% | 36% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 27% | 25% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 15% | 14% |
| What stands out | Anchorage | KY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 6.6% | 15.5% |
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 8.4% | 18.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.2% | 8.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Just 0 of its 1,892 acres are conserved, so there is little public open land in Anchorage itself; its outdoors grade is C−.
1.2 miles of trail in 0 parks and preserves.
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
January nights average 24.5°: milder than most of the country, but colder than 75% of Kentucky places with climate records; July afternoons average 86.9°.
Anchorage has chilly winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. About 15 inches of snow falls in a winter.
| Anchorage | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 87°F | 87°F | 85°F |
| January low | 25°F | 25°F | 22°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Jobs based here grew from 560 in 2013 to 907.
Most working residents leave Anchorage for work: only 1% work in town. Jobs based in Anchorage grew to 907 in 2023, 347 more than in 2013. 12% of Anchorage residents live below the poverty line.
| Anchorage | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 1.5% | 15% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 12% | 16% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 22 minutes | 22 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 52% of U.S. communities. Since 1997, 3 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Anchorage.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
At 11.6 years of the Louisville/Jefferson County metro’s $74K median household income, the typical home costs more against local pay than in any other Kentucky town; that ratio is one input to its D for cost of living. The median property tax bill is $8,139, against $1,544 across Kentucky, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
Anchorage’s median rent is $1,578 a month.
| Anchorage | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 82% | 59% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,578 a month | $930 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
10 within 15 miles of the center of Anchorage
About 6 of every 100 Anchorage residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Kentucky.
34 places in Anchorage on the National Register of Historic Places.
3 notable people were born in Anchorage.
City in Kentucky, United States
Anchorage is a home rule-class city in eastern Jefferson County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 2,500 as of the 2020 census, up from 2,348 at the 2010 census and an estimated 2,432 in 2018. It is an independent municipality surrounded by Louisville Metro and is one of the wealthiest communities in Kentucky.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Anchorage.
| Town | KY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anchorage | #21 | A | D | A | A+ | A− |
| Middletown | #123 | D | D | C− | D | A |
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Anchorage grades A overall, better than 88% of U.S. towns and #21 of 138 in Kentucky. It grades A− for health, A for safety and A+ for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
Yes. The typical home is worth about $854,000, 270% above the Kentucky typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D.
3 notable people were born here, including Joan Osborne and Virginia Pearson.
