Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Walton's standout: natural-hazard risk is low. Overall it grades A−, ranked 29th of 138 in Kentucky. Its schools outperform 92% of the state's and it is more walkable than 75% of U.S. towns. Walton has 14 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Col. Abner Gaines House and Chandler House. Walton's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 87% of U.S. towns. Only 4 of the 142 Kentucky towns we compare have a lower share of residents 65 or older than Walton.
Where Walton beats most towns.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Walton-Verona Middle School | 6–8 | 425 |
| Walton-Verona High School | 9–12 | 548 |
| Walton - Verona Early Childhood Center | PK | 86 |
Col. Abner Gaines House
Census counts: 289 in 1880, 5,460 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1908 and a map from 1986 on.
14 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Kentucky), ordered by how far Walton is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Walton. Close and well known come first.
Big draw17 mi Theme parkArk Encounter
17 mi Stadium & arenaPaycor Stadium
Big draw38 mi Theme parkKings Island3.5M visitors a year
17 mi Stadium & arenaGreat American Ball Park
18 mi MuseumCreation Museum1.2M visitors a year
19 mi Stadium & arenaNippert StadiumArk Encounter: OlinEJ, CC0 · Paycor Stadium: JonRidinger, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Kings Island: Eli Duke from Portland, OR, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Great American Ball Park: Eric Kilby profile at Flickr website, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Creation Museum: Creashin at English Wikipedia, Public domain · Nippert Stadium: Ben Levin, CC BY-SA 4.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Walton, 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 Walton.
Walton carries less natural-hazard risk than nearly all of Kentucky (mostly tornadoes) and has less heart disease than most of Kentucky, but it has property taxes about twice the Kentucky norm.
Its public schools are run by the Walton-Verona Independent school district. Two of its 4 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Walton-Verona High School, with 548 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Walton-Verona Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 425 | B+ |
| Walton-Verona High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 548 | B+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within KY on state tests and graduation
The median property tax bill is $3,114, against $1,544 across Kentucky, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
The typical Walton home is worth about $357,000, up 4.3% in a year, 55% above the Kentucky typical home. Walton’s median rent is $1,306 a month, against $930 a month in Kentucky’s towns and $1,185 a month across U.S. towns. 73% of Walton households own their home.
| Walton | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 73% | 59% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,306 a month | $930 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk lower than 99% of Kentucky towns; that rating is what its A+ for hazard risk is built on.
Walton’s FEMA risk score is 6 of 100, where Kentucky’s towns sit at 48 of 100 and U.S. towns at 44 of 100.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Children under 18 are 41% of residents (23% statewide); people 65 and older are 8% of residents (17% statewide). Walton’s median age is 29.9 years. Walton has grown 7% since 2020, to 5,868 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| Walton | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 29.9 years | 37.6 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 33% | 26% | 29% |
50% women, 50% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±4.8 points. Across Kentucky, 50.5% of residents are women.
| Walton | KY | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 23.8% | 12.1% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 17.1% | 10.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 4.5% | 9.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 13.6% | 13.1% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.4% | 12.6% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 10.3% | 12.3% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 10.8% | 13% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 6.6% | 10.5% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 0.9% | 6.8% | 7% |
| No diploma | 5.6% | 11.1% | 10.4% |
| High school | 38% | 32.6% | 26% |
| Some college | 20.1% | 19.7% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 3.8% | 9% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 18.4% | 16.2% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 14.2% | 11.3% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Walton has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 86°, January nights drop to 23° and about 23 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Jobs based here grew from 2,217 in 2013 to 3,505.
The average trip to work in Walton is 30 minutes. Jobs based in Walton grew to 3,505 in 2023, 1,288 more than in 2013. 6.6% of working residents work locally in Walton.
| Walton | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 30 minutes | 22 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 6.6% | 15% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 13% | 16% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $78,000 | $59,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its widest gap with Kentucky is heart disease: 5.1% of its 3,644 adults have heart disease, against 8.2% statewide.
Walton beats the Kentucky average on 17 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 2. Among 141 Kentucky towns, just 1 have a higher share of adults who binge drink than Walton.
| Walton | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 14% | 16% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 38% | 35% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 9.6% | 13% | 12% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 76% | 79% | 79% |
| What stands out | Walton | KY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults with heart disease | 5.1% | 8.2% |
| Fewer adults who have had a stroke | 2.6% | 4% |
| More binge drinkers | 19.2% | 14.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
| Walton | Kentucky towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 1.5% | 1.8% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.3 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Walton Community Park | 0.7 mi | 31 |
| 2. Walton Nature Trail | — | 8 |
| 3. Walton Citizens Park | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
4 within 15 miles of the center of Walton
About 5 of every 100 Walton residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Kentucky.
3,635 counted in 2010 and 5,460 in 2020; an estimated 5,868 in 2025.
Growth hasn’t slowed: 7% since 2020, after 50.2% in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
14 places in Walton on the National Register of Historic Places.
City in Kentucky, United States
Walton is a home rule-class city in Boone and Kenton counties in the U.S. state of Kentucky. The population was 5,460 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Walton grades A− overall, better than 83% of U.S. towns and #29 of 138 in Kentucky. It grades B for health and A 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 C+.
2 notable people were born here, including John Leland Atwood and Louise Southgate.
