Rural Considerations

Below are some links and advice for things you might consider when making your transition from urban (suburban) settings to a rural and remote settings in Kentucky. Some or all may be relevant to your situation.

Click here for a map of the counties in Kentucky.

Healthcare access

Many rural communities have limited access to medical care. Sometimes it is due to distance and other times it may be due to a local health system’s limited bandwidth to serve everyone in the community efficiently. The bulleted links below are provided to help you gauge quality and proximity of health care with your desired location in rural Kentucky places.

• List of Kentucky Hospitals

• Hospital Statistics

• Best Hospitals in Kentucky

schools

You may be looking for accelerated programs or special accommodations. The bulleted links below are provided to help you gauge any educational needs your children may have with your desired location in rural Kentucky places.

• General Kentucky Education Information

• Contact Information by County and School District

• Kentucky School Report Card

• Another School Rating Resource

Crime and safety

Here are some links to find statistics on crime in Kentucky.

• Safest Cities

• Crime and Traffic Stats from the Kentucky State Police

• Violent Crime Stats in the State of Kentucky

• Crime Search by City/Zipcode

connectivity

Below is a link to searching for internet service providers. Enter a zip code to see a list of the companies that service the area.

High speed internet provider search

food

As much as we think of rural areas to be the source of our fresh food, the irony is that many communities have difficult access to fresh, nutritious foods. Some limitations are caused by distance to grocery stores and the products that those grocers sell. Sometimes the limitation is a result of economic distress. Below is some information on food insecurity and how to be proactive about this idea before you make your move.

• Map and Information on Food Insecurity in Kentucky

• One of the best tools for this type of question is Google. Begin a search with “grocery stores in” and finish the sentence with the city, zip code, or Kentucky county.

• For more information on how to grow your own food start with your County Extension Office. Most of these government departments have community programs, information, and educational resources around horticultural and agricultural matters. And usually the county extension office will be in partnership with a university in or near that county. You can generally get soil samples analyzed through this entity, find resources for buying seeds, best practices for fertilizing and cultivating native soils, etc.