Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Residents are less healthy than 98% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. Overall it grades C−, 108th of 138 graded towns in Kentucky. Its weakest subject is incomes: the median household income is $45K, and 30% of residents live below the poverty line. 30% of residents live below the poverty line in Monticello, above both Kentucky’s towns (16%) and U.S. towns (9.6%). Monticello's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 96% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings include Mill Springs Mill and West-Metcalfe House.
Where Monticello beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Hotel Breeding| Widest gap | Monticello | KY |
|---|---|---|
| More uninsured adults | 11.1% | 5.4% |
Census counts: 37 in 1810, a low of 37 in 1810, 5,753 in 2020. The archive holds 10 old photos and papers going back to 1906 and 3 maps from 1911 on.
4 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Kentucky), ordered by how far Monticello is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Monticello, 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 Monticello.
Monticello draws workers from Somerset and beyond, but it has poverty well above the Kentucky rate and has little public open land.
25% of Monticello adults smoke cigarettes. Only 1 of the 141 Kentucky towns we compare have a higher share of adults who get no exercise outside work than Monticello. 12% of Monticello adults binge drink.
| Monticello | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 18% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 15% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 22% | 19% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 37% | 27% | 25% |
| What stands out | Monticello | KY |
|---|---|---|
| More uninsured adults | 11.1% | 5.4% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 29.6% | 18.9% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 23.1% | 15.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its public schools are run by the Wayne County school district. Two of its 8 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Wayne County High School, with 895 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monticello Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades 3–5 | Grades 3–5 | 664 | C− |
| Wayne County High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 895 | B− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within KY on state tests and graduation
3,324 jobs are based in Monticello, 1.5 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. 20.2% of workers work from home, against 10.2% across Kentucky.
About one in 4 of Monticello’s working residents works in town. Jobs based in Monticello fell to 3,324 in 2023, 654 fewer than in 2013. The top destinations are Somerset (9%), Lexington (3%) and Albany (2%).
| Monticello | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 28% | 15% | 8% |
| Median household income | $45,000 | $60,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 23 minutes | 22 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The median property tax bill is $735, against $1,544 across Kentucky, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
The typical Monticello home is worth about $156,000, down 3.2% in a year, 33% below the Kentucky typical home. 54% of households own their home in Monticello.
| Monticello | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 54% | 59% | 73% |
| Median rent | $779 a month | $937 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Monticello has chilly winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 86°, January nights drop to 26° and about 14 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Reported crimes fell from 96 to 47 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings. Violent crime is rare: 4 reported in 2025, 0.7 per 1,000 residents.
Monticello’s violent crime rate is 0.7 per 1,000 residents.
| Monticello | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.7 per 1,000 residents | 1.3 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 7.5 per 1,000 residents | 8.3 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 59% of U.S. communities. One flood insurance claim has been paid in Monticello since 2021.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Just 44 of its 3,906 acres are conserved, so there is little public open land in Monticello itself; its outdoors grade is C−.
0.3 miles of trail in 1 park or preserve. The trail density in Monticello is 0.1 miles per square mile. The biggest park or preserve is Monticello Wayne County Park, at 29 acres.
| Monticello | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 1.1% | 1.8% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Monticello Wayne County Park | — | 29 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Monticello. Close and well known come first.
12 mi LakeLake Cumberland
28 mi WaterfallCumberland Falls
16 mi National RiverBig South Fork National River and Recreation Area774K visitors a year
7 mi National MonumentMill Springs Battlefield National Monument11K visitors a year
21 mi MuseumBlue Heron21 mi MuseumBarthellLake Cumberland: Censusdata at English Wikipedia, Public domain · Cumberland Falls: ChrisKuehl, Public domain · Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area: Brian Stansberry, CC BY 3.0 · Mill Springs Battlefield National Monument: C. Bedford Crenshaw, Attribution · Blue Heron: Brian Stansberry, CC BY 3.0
None within 15 miles of Monticello; the nearest are
About 6 of every 100 Monticello residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Kentucky.
Where Monticello’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
4 places in Monticello on the National Register of Historic Places.
5 notable people were born in Monticello.
City in Kentucky, United States
Monticello is a city in Wayne County, Kentucky, United States. It is the seat of its county. Its population was 5,753 at the time of the 2020 United States census. Monticello claims to be "the Houseboat Capital of the World", as numerous houseboat manufacturers operate in the city. The city is located along Lake Cumberland. Its economy is built on serving the recreational and tourist traffic to the lake.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Monticello grades C− overall, better than 23% of U.S. towns and #108 of 138 in Kentucky. It grades D− for health, B for safety and B− for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a D−.
That is 3.4 years of the area's median household income ($45,739 across the county).
5 notable people were born here, including Shelby Moore Cullom and Whitey Bell.
