Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 17,142, settled in 1867. Public schools that outperform most of Kentucky.
Few places in the country grade higher. Fort Thomas earns an A+, 3rd of 138 graded towns in Kentucky. Its public schools are among the best in Kentucky, residents are healthier than 89% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates, and the median household earns $104K. Its lowest mark, a C+, is in cost of living. Fort Thomas’ trail density is 2.1 miles per square mile, against 0.3 in Kentucky’s towns and 0.4 across U.S. towns. Only 15 of Kentucky’s 238 towns score higher on the outdoors. Fort Thomas has 6 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Fort Thomas Military Reservation District and U.S. Army Fort Thomas Mess Hall.
Where Fort Thomas beats most towns.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Moyer Elementary School | PK–5 | 565 |
| Woodfill Elementary School | K–5 | 444 |
| Johnson Elementary School | PK–5 | 425 |
| Widest gap | Fort Thomas | KY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 7.9% | 15.5% |
3% of the town is conserved land, across 4 parks and preserves.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Kentucky), ordered by how far Fort Thomas is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 5,028 in 1920, 17,438 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1880 and 6 maps from 1898 on.
6 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Fort Thomas. Close and well known come first.
3 mi Stadium & arenaPaycor Stadium
3 mi Stadium & arenaGreat American Ball Park
Big draw20 mi Theme parkKings Island3.5M visitors a year
Big draw33 mi Theme parkArk Encounter
5 mi Stadium & arenaNippert Stadium
4 mi Stadium & arenaTQL StadiumPaycor Stadium: JonRidinger, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Great American Ball Park: Eric Kilby profile at Flickr website, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Kings Island: Eli Duke from Portland, OR, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Ark Encounter: OlinEJ, CC0 · Nippert Stadium: Ben Levin, CC BY-SA 4.0 · TQL Stadium: Cornfield948, CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Fort Thomas, 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 Fort Thomas.
Fort Thomas has more trail for its size than nearly any town in Kentucky, has schools in the top 5% of Kentucky and reports less crime than Southgate or any other graded neighbor.
At 2.1 miles of trail per square mile, it ranks #2 of 77 Kentucky towns.
12 miles of trail in 4 parks and preserves. The biggest place to walk is Tower Park, 93 acres with 5.9 miles of trail.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Tower Park | 5.9 mi | 93 |
| 2. Highland Hills Park | 2.7 mi | 74 |
| 3. Rossford Park | 1 mi | 18 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its A+ ranks #1 of the 139 Kentucky towns we grade for schools. Its A+ is the best School Grade on its borders; Highland Heights (A) is next.
Its public schools are run by the Fort Thomas Independent school district. Three of its 8 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Highlands Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 717 | A+ |
| Highlands High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,019 | A+ |
| Woodfill Elementary SchoolTop results in townGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 444 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within KY on state tests and graduation
Its typical home is the priciest on its borders; Newport is next at $242K. The median property tax bill is $4,313, against $1,544 across Kentucky, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
The typical Fort Thomas home is worth about $374,000, up 6.5% in a year, 62% above the Kentucky typical home. 71% of households own their home in Fort Thomas, where Kentucky’s towns sit at 59% and U.S. towns at 73%.
| Fort Thomas | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 71% | 59% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,126 a month | $930 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its widest gap with Kentucky is food insecurity: 7.9% of its 12,970 adults worry about having enough food, against 15.5% statewide. Its A for health tops all 5 graded neighbors; Highland Heights (A−) comes closest.
14% of Fort Thomas adults say their health is fair or poor. Only 10 of the 141 Kentucky towns we compare have a lower share of adults who report frequent physical distress than Fort Thomas. 18% of Fort Thomas adults get no exercise outside work.
| Fort Thomas | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 15% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 18% | 17% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 27% | 25% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 23% | 19% |
| What stands out | Fort Thomas | KY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 7.9% | 15.5% |
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 10.5% | 18.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its A tops all 5 graded towns on its borders; Southgate (B+) comes closest. Violent crime is rare: 8 reported in 2025, 0.5 per 1,000 residents.
The property crime rate in Fort Thomas is 4.2 per 1,000 residents.
| Fort Thomas | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 4.2 per 1,000 residents | 8.3 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.5 per 1,000 residents | 1.3 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
41% of working residents cross a state line to work.
Most working residents leave Fort Thomas for work: only 8% work in town. 6.1% of residents live below the poverty line in Fort Thomas. Since 2013, Fort Thomas has added 671 jobs, to 4,498 in 2023.
| Fort Thomas | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $104,000 | $59,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 18% | 10% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 6.1% | 16% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 22 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Fort Thomas has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 87°, January nights drop to 24° and about 23 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 67% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 15 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Fort Thomas.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
19 within 15 miles of the center of Fort Thomas
About 7 of every 100 Fort Thomas residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Kentucky.
Where Fort Thomas’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
6 places in Fort Thomas on the National Register of Historic Places.
18 notable people were born in Fort Thomas.
City in Kentucky, United States
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 17,483 at the 2020 census, making it the largest city in Campbell County. It is part of the Cincinnati – Northern Kentucky metropolitan area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
6 towns share a border with Fort Thomas.
| Town | KY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Thomas | #3 | A+ | C+ | A | A+ | A |
| Newport | #134 | D | B | D | D− | C− |
| Dayton | #44 | B | B | B | A | C− |
| Southgate | #23 | A | B | B+ | A | B− |
| Highland Heights | #2 | A+ | A | B+ | A | A− |
| Bellevue | #54 | B− | B− | B | D− | B |
| Woodlawn | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Woodlawn isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Fort Thomas with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Yes, by almost any measure. Fort Thomas grades A+ overall, among the top 2% of U.S. towns and #3 of 138 in Kentucky. It grades A for health, A for safety and A+ for schools.
That is 4.6 years of the area's median household income ($81,120 across the Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.
18 notable people were born here, including Lucien Hubbard and Morgan Hentz.
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