Kentucky city guide
Moving From California to Georgetown, KY
A fast-growing small city north of Lexington built around Toyota's largest manufacturing plant outside Japan, with new subdivisions and a historic downtown.
Housing comparison
California versus Georgetown, side by side
- Median home value
- $725,800
- $265,400
- Median annual property tax
- $5,114
- not available
- Median monthly cost, owners with a mortgage
- $2,844
- not available
- Population
- 39.0 million (state)
- 39,117
Figures are US Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020 to 2024 5-Year Estimates for the city place. Property tax and monthly cost rows cover owner-occupied units with a mortgage, so they describe what current owners pay, not what a new buyer would pay at today's prices. California column is the statewide baseline used across this site.
Why Californians look at Georgetown
Georgetown sits about 15 miles north of Lexington on Interstate 75, close enough to draw on Lexington's hospitals, airport, and university while keeping its own identity as a smaller, faster-growing city. Population has grown roughly 85 percent since 2009, among the sharpest growth rates in the state.
The reason is Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky, the automaker's largest vehicle plant in the world, which put down roots here in 1986 and has drawn a wide network of suppliers and related manufacturing jobs ever since. That single employer defines Georgetown's economy more than any other factor.
For a California household, Georgetown offers new construction, a historic small-town downtown built around Georgetown College, and Lexington's larger amenities a short drive away, all at home prices still well under the national median.
Georgetown fits you if
- You want new construction and a fast-growing small city rather than an established, slower-moving one.
- You or a household member works in manufacturing, automotive supply, or logistics.
- You want Lexington's airport, hospitals, and university within a short drive while living somewhere smaller and less expensive.
- You like a historic small-town downtown and a college-town feel on a smaller scale.
Look elsewhere if
- You want an independent economy diversified beyond manufacturing. Georgetown's fortunes track closely with the Toyota plant and its suppliers.
- You need a local airport with commercial service. Georgetown has none; residents use Blue Grass Airport in Lexington.
- You want an established, slow-growth small town. Georgetown's rapid growth means ongoing construction and rising traffic.
- You need deep specialty medical care in town, since Georgetown Community Hospital is a small community facility.
Housing in Georgetown
Georgetown combines a historic core near Georgetown College with a wide band of newer subdivisions built over the last two decades to house the growing manufacturing and commuter population working at the Toyota plant or in Lexington.
The median home value has risen to around $265,400, up sharply from $142,200 in 2009, a reflection of the city's rapid population growth and the tight housing supply that has come with it.
Because so much of the housing stock is newer, buyers get more modern construction and larger lots for the price than in an older, more built-out city, though that also means less architectural variety than Lexington or Louisville offer.
Work and the local economy
Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky is by far the dominant employer, producing hundreds of thousands of vehicles and engines annually and drawing a substantial supplier and logistics network into Scott County.
Georgetown College, a small private liberal arts college, and Scott County's growing retail and healthcare sector fill out the rest of the local base, but neither compares in scale to the Toyota plant.
This concentration is the single biggest economic fact about Georgetown. A downturn in automotive manufacturing would hit this local economy harder than it would hit a more diversified city.
Climate and setting
Georgetown shares Lexington's humid continental Bluegrass climate: warm, humid summers, cool winters with occasional snow and ice, and mild, attractive spring and fall seasons.
The surrounding countryside is rolling bluegrass farmland similar to the rest of the region, with the city itself sitting at roughly 875 feet elevation.
As across central Kentucky, spring severe weather and occasional tornado warnings are part of the normal seasonal pattern, a factor worth discussing with an insurance agent before buying.
Getting around, care, and schools
- Commercial air
- No commercial service in Georgetown; Blue Grass Airport in Lexington, about 20 minutes south, serves the area.
- Highways
- Interstate 75 runs through Georgetown, connecting Lexington to the south and Cincinnati to the north.
- Hospital
- Georgetown Community Hospital, part of CommonSpirit's regional network, with larger specialty hospitals in Lexington nearby.
- Public schools
- Scott County Schools.
- Higher education
- Georgetown College, a small private liberal arts college in town.
- Setting
- Rolling bluegrass farmland north of Lexington, at roughly 875 feet elevation.
The trade-offs
- The local economy is heavily concentrated in one manufacturing plant and its suppliers.
- There is no local commercial airport; residents rely on Lexington's Blue Grass Airport for all air travel.
- Rapid growth has strained road capacity and school enrollment in recent years.
- Specialty medical care beyond the local community hospital generally means a short drive to Lexington.
Other Kentucky towns people compare
Lexington
Kentucky's second-largest city, built around the University of Kentucky and the horse industry, with the steadiest home values in the state.
Louisville
Kentucky's largest city and the state's biggest job market, home to a major UPS logistics hub, a growing healthcare sector, and a strong food and arts scene.
Fort Mitchell
A quiet, wooded Northern Kentucky suburb across the Ohio River from Cincinnati, with a short commute into the city and some of the highest home values in the state.
Bowling Green
The fastest-growing city in Kentucky, built around Western Kentucky University and the state's only General Motors assembly plant, with below-average home prices.
Berea
A walkable arts and crafts college town at the northern edge of Appalachia, home to tuition-free Berea College, with the lowest home prices among Kentucky's larger cities and towns.
Statewide figures, tax detail, and the full Kentucky picture are on the Kentucky page. Compare property, income, and sales tax across all 49 destination states on Taxes, and see where Californians are actually moving on Stats.
Sources
- US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020 to 2024 5-Year Estimates, table B25077 (median home value), retrieved via Census Reporter, September 3, 2026.
- US Census Bureau, ACS 2020 to 2024 5-Year Estimates, table B25103 (median real estate taxes paid, owner-occupied units with a mortgage), retrieved September 3, 2026.
- US Census Bureau, ACS 2020 to 2024 5-Year Estimates, table B25088 (median selected monthly owner costs, owner-occupied units with a mortgage), retrieved September 3, 2026.
- US Census Bureau, ACS 2020 to 2024 5-Year Estimates, table B01003 (total population), retrieved September 3, 2026.
- GeoStat.org, Georgetown, Kentucky trends and changes.
- Data USA, Georgetown, KY profile, datausa.io.
- Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky facility profile, pressroom.toyota.com.
See what your California equity buys in Georgetown
Four short questions. We match you with one local agent and apply a closing cost credit funded from our referral fee.
Start your Georgetown move
Four short questions. We use them to decide which agent fits your move, and to build your equity report.