Which Kentucky counties score best for off-grid living?

Of the 120 Kentucky counties we have scored, Bourbon County scores highest at 98 and Pike County lowest at 77. Kentucky ranks 15th of 50 overall, at 90 out of 100 (Good with caveats). Buildability separates its counties most: 0 to 10 out of 10.

Updated 2026-09-27 · 120 counties · 577 spots of private rural land scored

Good with caveatsKentucky ranks 15th of 50, 90 out of 100, in the Best States ranking: the typical parcel on the state's private rural land, with each scored spot weighted by the land it stands for. On a fresh draw of counties it would rank between #12 and #23. City counties with little private rural land have no page, and any parcel can be scored, free, below.

Every scored county in Kentucky, best score first

Find a county120 counties


Bourbon → 70 people / sq mi	98	25	20	13	15	15	10
Allen → 63 people / sq mi	97	25	20	14	13	15	10
Fayette → 1128 people / sq mi	97	25	20	13	15	15	9
Meade → 99 people / sq mi	97	24	20	14	14	15	10
Scott → 213 people / sq mi	97	25	20	13	15	14	10
Woodford → 144 people / sq mi	97	25	20	13	14	15	10
Boone → 571 people / sq mi	96	24	20	13	15	14	10
Boyle → 172 people / sq mi	96	25	20	13	14	14	10
Grayson → 54 people / sq mi	96	25	20	14	14	13	10
Hancock → 48 people / sq mi	96	24	20	14	15	13	10
Harrison → 63 people / sq mi	96	24	20	13	15	14	10
Jessamine → 320 people / sq mi	96	25	19	13	14	15	10
Nelson → 114 people / sq mi	96	24	20	14	14	14	10
Breckinridge → 37 people / sq mi	95	23	20	14	14	14	10
Edmonson → 41 people / sq mi	95	23	20	14	13	15	10
Fleming → 44 people / sq mi	95	23	20	13	14	15	10
Mercer → 93 people / sq mi	95	24	20	13	15	13	10
Metcalfe → 36 people / sq mi	95	24	20	13	13	15	10
Ohio → 40 people / sq mi	95	25	20	14	13	14	9
Pendleton → 53 people / sq mi	95	25	20	13	15	13	9
Shelby → 130 people / sq mi	95	23	20	14	13	15	10
Simpson → 86 people / sq mi	95	23	20	14	13	15	10
Barren → 92 people / sq mi	94	25	19	13	12	15	10
Franklin → 248 people / sq mi	94	25	20	13	14	13	9
Garrard → 78 people / sq mi	94	25	20	13	14	13	9
Green → 40 people / sq mi	94	25	20	13	12	14	10
Henry → 56 people / sq mi	94	24	20	13	13	14	10
Jefferson → 2028 people / sq mi	94	25	20	13	13	14	9
Mason → 70 people / sq mi	94	24	20	13	15	13	9
Monroe → 34 people / sq mi	94	23	20	14	13	14	10
Taylor → 99 people / sq mi	94	23	20	13	13	15	10
Butler → 29 people / sq mi	93	23	20	14	14	13	9
Laurel → 146 people / sq mi	93	23	20	13	15	13	9
Lincoln → 74 people / sq mi	93	24	20	13	15	14	7
Logan → 51 people / sq mi	93	23	20	14	12	14	10
Lyon → 43 people / sq mi	93	25	20	14	11	14	9
Madison → 221 people / sq mi	93	25	20	13	15	13	7
McLean → 36 people / sq mi	93	23	20	14	12	14	10
Russell → 72 people / sq mi	93	23	20	13	14	15	8
Todd → 33 people / sq mi	93	25	20	14	10	14	10
Trigg → 33 people / sq mi	93	23	20	14	11	15	10
Adair → 48 people / sq mi	92	23	20	13	13	14	9
Christian → 100 people / sq mi	92	23	20	14	10	15	10
Clinton → 46 people / sq mi	92	23	20	13	14	13	9
Gallatin → 90 people / sq mi	92	25	20	13	15	12	7
Hardin → 180 people / sq mi	92	23	19	14	13	14	9
Kenton → 1068 people / sq mi	92	23	20	13	15	14	7
Marshall → 105 people / sq mi	92	23	20	14	11	14	10
Menifee → 31 people / sq mi	92	25	20	13	15	12	7
Pulaski → 101 people / sq mi	92	23	20	13	14	13	9
Robertson → 23 people / sq mi	92	25	20	13	14	13	7
Carroll → 85 people / sq mi	91	25	20	11	13	13	9
Graves → 66 people / sq mi	91	23	20	14	9	15	10
Larue → 59 people / sq mi	91	23	18	14	12	14	10
Marion → 58 people / sq mi	91	23	20	13	13	13	9
Montgomery → 145 people / sq mi	91	23	20	12	14	14	8
Muhlenberg → 65 people / sq mi	91	24	20	14	12	14	7
Oldham → 375 people / sq mi	91	23	20	13	12	14	9
Warren → 263 people / sq mi	91	25	20	13	13	13	7
Wayne → 43 people / sq mi	91	25	19	13	14	12	8
Webster → 38 people / sq mi	91	23	20	14	10	14	10
Crittenden → 25 people / sq mi	90	23	20	14	10	14	9
Grant → 99 people / sq mi	90	25	20	13	14	12	6
Lewis → 27 people / sq mi	90	25	20	13	15	12	5
Union → 38 people / sq mi	90	23	20	14	10	13	10
Bath → 47 people / sq mi	89	23	19	11	15	13	8
Caldwell → 36 people / sq mi	89	23	18	14	10	14	10
Calloway → 100 people / sq mi	89	23	18	14	11	14	9
Campbell → 619 people / sq mi	89	24	20	12	14	13	6
Hart → 48 people / sq mi	89	23	20	12	12	13	9
Henderson → 101 people / sq mi	89	23	20	13	10	13	10
Hickman → 18 people / sq mi	89	23	20	14	9	14	9
Hopkins → 83 people / sq mi	89	25	19	14	10	14	7
Washington → 41 people / sq mi	89	23	20	11	14	13	8
Anderson → 122 people / sq mi	88	25	20	11	14	12	6
Ballard → 31 people / sq mi	88	25	20	14	9	13	7
Carlisle → 25 people / sq mi	88	23	19	14	8	14	10
Livingston → 28 people / sq mi	88	25	19	14	9	14	7
McCreary → 40 people / sq mi	88	23	20	13	14	11	7
Nicholas → 39 people / sq mi	88	23	20	13	15	11	6
Spencer → 110 people / sq mi	88	23	20	12	14	13	6
Bracken → 42 people / sq mi	87	23	20	13	11	12	8
Clark → 148 people / sq mi	87	23	20	11	15	12	6
Daviess → 226 people / sq mi	87	23	20	14	11	12	7
Bullitt → 286 people / sq mi	86	23	19	14	10	12	8
Fulton → 31 people / sq mi	86	23	20	14	9	13	7
Lee → 35 people / sq mi	86	25	19	12	12	12	6
McCracken → 271 people / sq mi	86	25	20	14	7	13	7
Owen → 32 people / sq mi	86	23	20	11	14	11	7
Powell → 73 people / sq mi	86	25	20	13	13	11	4
Boyd → 299 people / sq mi	85	22	20	13	14	11	5
Rockcastle → 51 people / sq mi	85	24	20	13	13	10	5
Trimble → 58 people / sq mi	85	24	20	12	11	11	7
Wolfe → 28 people / sq mi	84	25	20	13	11	11	4
Bell → 65 people / sq mi	83	25	19	13	11	11	4
Casey → 36 people / sq mi	83	23	20	13	11	11	5
Estill → 55 people / sq mi	83	25	20	13	10	11	4
Jackson → 38 people / sq mi	83	23	20	10	15	11	4
Whitley → 84 people / sq mi	83	23	20	11	11	11	7
Cumberland → 20 people / sq mi	82	23	19	13	13	11	3
Greenup → 102 people / sq mi	82	24	20	12	11	10	5
Morgan → 38 people / sq mi	82	23	20	13	11	11	4
Johnson → 84 people / sq mi	81	23	17	12	11	12	6
Carter → 64 people / sq mi	80	23	20	12	11	10	4
Elliott → 31 people / sq mi	80	23	20	10	11	11	5
Lawrence → 39 people / sq mi	80	23	20	13	10	11	3
Letcher → 60 people / sq mi	80	23	19	13	11	11	3
Owsley → 20 people / sq mi	80	23	19	13	10	11	4
Perry → 80 people / sq mi	80	23	20	13	11	11	2
Rowan → 87 people / sq mi	80	25	20	10	11	11	3
Knox → 77 people / sq mi	79	23	20	11	11	11	3
Leslie → 25 people / sq mi	79	25	19	13	11	11	0
Martin → 48 people / sq mi	79	23	19	13	10	11	3
Breathitt → 26 people / sq mi	78	25	19	13	10	11	0
Harlan → 54 people / sq mi	78	25	20	11	11	11	0
Clay → 42 people / sq mi	77	23	20	13	11	10	0
Floyd → 88 people / sq mi	77	25	19	13	10	10	0
Knott → 39 people / sq mi	77	23	19	13	11	11	0
Magoffin → 36 people / sq mi	77	23	20	13	10	11	0
Pike → 71 people / sq mi	77	23	20	13	10	11	0

Score is out of 100: Water 25, Legal 20, Solar 15, Hazard 15, Food 15, Buildability 10. Green cells score 80% or better of their maximum; amber cells under 70%.

Where the good land is

80% of Kentucky's private rural land scores Good with caveats or better (80 or more). The strongest counties are Bourbon, Allen and Fayette. The weakest are Clay, Floyd and Knott. Where the land falls short, it is most often on building (slope, septic and land price) and hazards (flood, fire, storms and earthquakes).

What separates them

Buildability: Bourbon County scores 10 of 10, Pike County 0. Slope, the septic the ground needs, footings, and the county's land price. A steep or soggy lot that fails a septic test is the dealbreaker photos hide.
Hazard: Bourbon County scores 15 of 15, McCracken County 7. Flood, wildfire, seismic, and severe-weather exposure: the risks that raise insurance and build cost or strand a parcel.
Food: Bourbon County scores 15 of 15, Floyd County 10. Soil quality, frost-free growing days, and rainfall: what decides whether you can actually feed yourself and your animals.
Solar: Allen County scores 14 of 15, Rowan County 10. Year-round solar potential, including the darkest month, and how much energy it takes to heat and cool a house there. Matters most if you're fully off-grid.
Legal: Bourbon County scores 20 of 20, Johnson County 17. Whether you can reach the land and live on it: road access, distance to emergency care, internet and cell, and how built up the area is, which decides how many lot-size, livestock, and zoning rules you will meet.
Water: Bourbon County scores 25 of 25, Boyd County 22. Drinking, system, and irrigation water, the #1 reason off-grid and homestead plans collapse. A low score means a deep, costly well or hauled water.

The state's soft spot

Hazard is Kentucky's weakest dimension, at 12 of 15 for the state as a whole. Flood, wildfire, seismic, and severe-weather exposure: the risks that raise insurance and build cost or strand a parcel. Getting a parcel here off-grid runs $29k to $89k by our estimates across these counties, before the house. The full Kentucky row in the Best States ranking has the state-wide spread and how the popular off-grid guides rank it.

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Before you buy in Kentucky

The scores read the physical land. Whether you may legally live on it is a separate question, and it changes at the county line: Is it legal to live off-grid in Kentucky? covers zoning, building code, septic, and wells for the state, with the counties that opt out. For the reason water carries a quarter of the score, how you get water on off-grid land is the read. And the five-point check is the order to do it in.

Good with caveatsKentucky: 90 of 100, 15th of 50. A good state is not a good parcel. Score the one you are looking at, free, in about a minute.

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