Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Hodgenville gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $231K for a typical one, or 3.4 years of the Elizabethtown metro’s $68K median household income. It grades C+ overall, 76th among Kentucky's 138 graded towns. The low prices come with trade-offs. Residents are less healthy than 92% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. On the plus side, its schools rank ahead of 78% of Kentucky towns. Its National Register listings include Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site and Hodgenville Christian Church. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 80% of U.S. towns. 19% of residents live below the poverty line in Hodgenville, against 16% in Kentucky’s towns and 9.6% across U.S. towns.
Where Hodgenville beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Hodgenville Elementary School | K–5 | 533 |
| Abraham Lincoln Elementary School | K–5 | 482 |
| LaRue County Middle School | 6–8 | 522 |
Census counts: 404 in 1870, 3,235 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1909 and 2 maps from 1953 on.
11 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Kentucky), ordered by how far Hodgenville is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Hodgenville, 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 Hodgenville.
Hodgenville pairs an A− for schools with modest home prices, trades lower home prices for longer drives to work and is safe by national standards but not by Kentucky’s.
2.2 miles of trail in 2 parks and preserves. The trail density in Hodgenville is 0.9 miles per square mile.
| Hodgenville | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.9 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 3.6% | 1.7% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Creekfront Park | 0.7 mi | 9 |
| 2. Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park | — | 6 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its A− for schools comes with a B+ for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $231K.
Its public schools are run by the LaRue County school district. Two of its 5 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is LaRue County High School, with 754 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hodgenville Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 533 | B |
| LaRue County High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 754 | B |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within KY on state tests and graduation
18% of adults report frequent physical distress in Hodgenville. Hodgenville beats the Kentucky average on 0 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 12. 21% of adults smoke cigarettes in Hodgenville.
| Hodgenville | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 15% | 14% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 18% | 14% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 43% | 40% | 36% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 22% | 19% |
| What stands out | Hodgenville | KY |
|---|---|---|
| More uninsured adults | 8.3% | 5.4% |
| More adults facing housing insecurity | 14.5% | 11.7% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 19.2% | 15.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Most working residents leave Hodgenville for work: only 7% work in town. Hodgenville’s average trip to work is 26 minutes. The top destinations are Elizabethtown (21%), Louisville (8%) and Bardstown (4%).
| Hodgenville | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 26 minutes | 22 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $58,000 | $60,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 7.4% | 15% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Hodgenville has chilly winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 87°, January nights drop to 25° and snow is almost unheard of.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 64% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
At 21.2 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 70% of Kentucky’s graded towns.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Homes are within reach (about $231K for the typical one, B+ for cost of living), but half of working residents commute more than 24 miles. 58.7% of renter households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, against 45.4% across Kentucky.
Typical home values fell 4.9% in the year to September 2026.
| Hodgenville | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 63% | 59% | 73% |
| Median rent | $956 a month | $930 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
1 within 15 miles of the center of Hodgenville
About 4 of every 100 Hodgenville residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Kentucky.
Where Hodgenville’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
11 places in Hodgenville on the National Register of Historic Places.
3 notable people were born in Hodgenville.
City in Kentucky, United States
Hodgenville is a home rule-class city in LaRue County, Kentucky, United States. It is the seat of its county. Hodgenville sits along the North Fork of the Nolin River. As of the 2020 census, Hodgenville had a population of 3,235. It is included in the Elizabethtown metropolitan area and is best known for being the birthplace of the 16th United States president Abraham Lincoln.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Hodgenville grades C+ overall, better than 35% of U.S. towns and #76 of 138 in Kentucky. It grades D for health, C+ for safety and A− 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 B+.
3 notable people were born here, including Thomas A. Robertson and Danny Little Bear.
