Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Hardinsburg gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $183K, 3.3 years of the county’s $56K median household income. It grades C+ overall, 64th among Kentucky's 138 graded towns. The low prices come with trade-offs. Residents are less healthy than 88% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates, and the median household income is $56K, and 18% of residents live below the poverty line. On the plus side, crime is low: it reports less per resident than 82% of U.S. towns. 29% of residents are 65 or older in Hardinsburg, against 17% in Kentucky’s towns and 18% across U.S. towns. Only 1 of the 115 Kentucky towns we compare have a lower property crime rate than Hardinsburg. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 74% of U.S. towns.
Where Hardinsburg beats most towns.
Where Hardinsburg’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Kentucky), ordered by how far Hardinsburg is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Its founding year, 1780, comes before those of 97% of the Kentucky towns we grade with a known year.
Census counts: 316 in 1830, a low of 316 in 1830, 2,385 in 2020. The archive holds 3 old photos and papers going back to 1961 and 6 maps from 1905 on.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Hardinsburg, 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 Hardinsburg.
Hardinsburg trades lower home prices for longer drives to work, draws workers from Cloverport and beyond and has seen reported crime fall by about half.
1,525 jobs are based in Hardinsburg, 1.7 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
About one in 4 of Hardinsburg’s working residents works in town. Since 2013, Hardinsburg has added 85 jobs, to 1,525 in 2023. The top destinations are Louisville (7%), Lexington (5%) and Elizabethtown (3%).
| Hardinsburg | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 25% | 15% | 8% |
| Median household income | $56,000 | $60,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 25 minutes | 22 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its public schools are run by the Breckinridge County school district. One of its 2 schools is below, with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hardinsburg Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 501 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within KY on state tests and graduation
16% of Hardinsburg adults have diabetes. Hardinsburg beats the Kentucky average on 0 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 11. 43% of Hardinsburg adults have high blood pressure.
| Hardinsburg | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 13% | 12% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 43% | 38% | 35% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 18% | 14% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 14% | 16% |
| What stands out | Hardinsburg | KY |
|---|---|---|
| More uninsured adults | 7.3% | 5.4% |
| More adults who have had a stroke | 5.2% | 4% |
| More adults with COPD | 13.1% | 10.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Reported crimes fell from 24 to 5 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings. Violent crime is rare: 1 reported in 2025, 0.4 per 1,000 residents.
The violent crime rate in Hardinsburg is 0.4 per 1,000 residents.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Hardinsburg’s median age is 43.2 years. Hardinsburg has grown 5.2% since 2020, to 2,513 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. 19% of residents are under 18 in Hardinsburg.
| Hardinsburg | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 43.2 years | 37.6 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 19% | 22% | 22% |
54.2% women, 45.8% men
About 84 men for every 100 women. Across Kentucky, 50.5% of residents are women. Among residents 18 to 24, 83% are men (KY 52%).
| Hardinsburg | KY | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 12.4% | 12.1% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 7% | 10.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 8.1% | 9.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 10.4% | 13.1% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.6% | 12.6% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 9.2% | 12.3% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 11% | 13% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 16.8% | 10.5% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 12.5% | 6.8% | 7% |
| No diploma | 16.1% | 11.1% | 10.4% |
| High school | 44.5% | 32.6% | 26% |
| Some college | 15.9% | 19.7% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 5.9% | 9% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 7% | 16.2% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 10.6% | 11.3% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 2,500, single groups can be off by several points
Homes are within reach (about $183K for the typical one, A− for cost of living), but half of working residents commute more than 24 miles.
The typical Hardinsburg home is worth about $183,000, about the same as a year ago, 21% below the Kentucky typical home.
| Hardinsburg | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $766 a month | $937 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 60% | 59% | 73% |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Hardinsburg has chilly winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 87°, January nights drop to 25° and about 4 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 57% of U.S. communities. One flood insurance claim has been paid in Hardinsburg since 2018.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Hardinsburg City Park | — | 7 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
None within 15 miles of Hardinsburg; the nearest are
About 2 of every 100 Hardinsburg residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Kentucky.
7 notable people were born in Hardinsburg.
City in Kentucky, United States
Hardinsburg is a home rule-class city in Breckinridge County, Kentucky, in the United States. It is the seat of its county. As of the 2020 census, Hardinsburg had a population of 2,385. Hardinsburg was named after Captain William Hardin.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Hardinsburg grades C+ overall, better than 43% of U.S. towns and #64 of 138 in Kentucky. It grades D for health, A− for safety and B− for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a D.
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades A−.
7 notable people were born here, including Ralph Beard and Butch Beard.