Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Bardstown gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $261K for a typical one, or 3.5 years of the Louisville/Jefferson County metro’s $74K median household income. It grades C+ overall, ranked 75th of 138 in Kentucky. On the plus side, natural-hazard risk is low. 34% of working residents work locally in Bardstown, where Kentucky’s towns sit at 15% and U.S. towns at 8%. Its National Register listings include My Old Kentucky Home and Wickland. Bardstown's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 89% of U.S. towns.
Where Bardstown beats most towns.
My Old Kentucky Home
Its founding year, 1770, is the earliest of any Kentucky town we grade.
Census counts: 216 in 1790, a low of 216 in 1790, 13,567 in 2020. The archive holds 17 old photos and papers going back to 1823 and 4 maps from 1953 on.
28 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Kentucky), ordered by how far Bardstown is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Bardstown, 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 Bardstown.
Bardstown trades lower home prices for longer drives to work, draws workers from Louisville and beyond and is safe by national standards but not by Kentucky’s.
13,574 jobs are based in Bardstown, 2.1 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
About one in 3 of Bardstown’s working residents works in town. Since 2013, Bardstown has added 2,478 jobs, to 13,574 in 2023. 4.1% of workers work from home in Bardstown.
| Bardstown | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 4.1% | 10% | 11% |
| Median household income | $51,000 | $60,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 22 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its public schools are run by the Bardstown Independent school district. Two of its 19 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bardstown Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades 2–5 | Grades 2–5 | 847 | A− |
| Nelson County High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 756 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within KY on state tests and graduation
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 76% of U.S. communities. Since 1997, 8 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Bardstown.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Bardstown has chilly winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 87°, January nights drop to 25° and about 12 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Homes are within reach (about $261K for the typical one, B for cost of living), but half of working residents commute more than 23 miles.
The typical Bardstown home is worth about $261,000, up 3.4% in a year, 13% above the Kentucky typical home.
| Bardstown | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 61% | 59% | 73% |
| Median rent | $977 a month | $930 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
At 22.3 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 74% of Kentucky’s graded towns. Reported crimes fell from 330 to 249 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Bardstown’s property crime rate is 16.9 per 1,000 residents.
| Bardstown | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 16.9 per 1,000 residents | 8.2 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.6 per 1,000 residents | 1.3 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Against the 6,265 U.S. towns with household incomes like Bardstown’s, it is healthier than 79%, so its C+ isn’t only a matter of income. Within Kentucky it is healthier than 64% of the 141 graded towns: much of Kentucky scores lower on these measures.
Bardstown beats the Kentucky average on 1 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 17% of Bardstown adults smoke cigarettes.
| Bardstown | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 18% | 14% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 27% | 23% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 40% | 36% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 23% | 19% |
| What stands out | Bardstown | KY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults with heart disease | 7.3% | 8.2% |
| More uninsured adults | 6.6% | 5.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
0.3 miles of trail in 3 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is My Old Kentucky Home State Park, at 233 acres.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. My Old Kentucky Home State Park | — | 233 |
| 2. Bardstown Community Park | — | 44 |
| 3. Dean Watts Park | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the Kentucky average. Bardstown has grown 4.4% since 2020, to 14,161 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. 27% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 28% across Kentucky.
| Bardstown | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 24% | 22% | 22% |
| Median age | 38.1 years | 37.6 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 17% | 17% | 18% |
48% women, 52% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±2.2 points. Across Kentucky, 50.5% of residents are women.
| Bardstown | KY | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 15.8% | 12.1% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 8.3% | 10.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 8.5% | 9.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 14.9% | 13.1% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 11.8% | 12.6% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 9.8% | 12.3% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 14.2% | 13% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 9.9% | 10.5% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 6.8% | 6.8% | 7% |
| No diploma | 11.5% | 11.1% | 10.4% |
| High school | 37.2% | 32.6% | 26% |
| Some college | 18% | 19.7% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 6.7% | 9% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 14.9% | 16.2% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 11.8% | 11.3% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Bardstown. Close and well known come first.
Big draw28 mi LandmarkUnited States Bullion Depository
17 mi National Historical ParkAbraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park213K visitors a year35 mi MuseumSons of the American Revolution
31 mi Theme parkKentucky Kingdom
32 mi Stadium & arenaL&N Federal Credit Union Stadium
34 mi Stadium & arenaLynn Family StadiumUnited States Bullion Depository: Work permit Original author=Cliff, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park: Jamie from Toronto, ON, CC BY 2.0 · Kentucky Kingdom: Stevietheman at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium: Perthsider, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Lynn Family Stadium: Bpluke01, CC BY-SA 4.0
None within 15 miles of Bardstown; the nearest are
About 3 of every 100 Bardstown residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Kentucky.
11,700 counted in 2010 and 13,567 in 2020; an estimated 14,161 in 2025.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
28 places in Bardstown on the National Register of Historic Places.
18 notable people were born in Bardstown.
City in Kentucky, United States
Bardstown is a home rule-class city in Nelson County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 13,567 in the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Nelson County. Bardstown is named for the pioneering Bard brothers. David Bard obtained a 1,000-acre (400 ha) land grant in 1785 in what was then Jefferson County, Virginia. William Bard surveyed and platted the town. It was originally chartered as Baird's Town in 1788, and has been known as Beardstown, and Beards Town. The production of bourbon whiskey is a major industry.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Bardstown grades C+ overall, better than 35% of U.S. towns and #75 of 138 in Kentucky. It grades C+ for health, C+ for safety and C+ for schools.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B.
18 notable people were born here, including Hal Moore and J. C. W. Beckham.
