Best Places66044, KS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 66044, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
66044 ranks 12,670th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on biking by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 66044
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
66044's strengths and weaknesses
Where 66044 ranks high
- BikingBetter than 96% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than 94% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 94% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than 93% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than 92% of zip codes
Where 66044 ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 5% of zip codes
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 10% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 18% of zip codes
- Household income$57,945 median, better than only 21% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 23% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 66044
A household needs to earn about $81,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 66044 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $57,945, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses 66044's effective rate of 1.22%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 66044
66044 runs younger than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 66044.
Who works in 66044, and how
Work in 66044 centers on education and hospitality & food. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 70%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 16%
Life in 66044
66044 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 82% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 91% of zip codes. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 66044 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 66044, month by month
66044 sees roughly 93 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41° | 29° | 20° |
| April | 70° | 55° | 43° |
| July | 91° | 79° | 68° |
| October | 72° | 57° | 45° |
Flying in and out of 66044
Kansas City International sits about 36 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 5.7 million passengers in 2025, with 104 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around 66044
Schools across 66044 average a C, better than 34% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Lecompton ElemB · 50% proficient
- Pinckney ElemB · 47% proficient
- Deerfield ElemB− · 43% proficient
Top middle schools
- Tonganoxie Middle SchoolC− · 29% proficient
- Lawrence West Middle SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Lawrence Liberty Memorial Central Mid SchoolD+ · 26% proficient
Top high schools
- Lawrence Free State HighC+ · 38% proficient
- Lawrence HighC · 32% proficient
- Mclouth HighC− · 27% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 66044 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
66044 measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare 66044 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 66044 suits
Families
Schools land around the 34th percentile and crime safety beats 72%.
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 15% already work from home.
Common questions about living in 66044
Is 66044 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 66044 ranks 12,670th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on biking, state infrastructure, and transit, and lowest on an overheated housing market and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 66044 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $293,388. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $57,945 median income, cost of living beats 27% of zip codes.
Is 66044 safe?
Yes, 66044 is safer than 72% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $272 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 66044?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 41 with lows near 20. That works out to about 93 pleasant days a year, more than 58% of zip codes.
Is 66044 good for families?
Schools beat 34% of zip codes, crime safety beats 72%, and childcare runs $795 a month.
Compare 66044 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 66044. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 66044 represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
66044 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 66044: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 66044: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 66044: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 66044: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
66044 detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.