Best Places66046, KS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 66046, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
66046 ranks 7,194th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on biking by a wide margin, and civic engagement ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 66046
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.
66046's strengths and weaknesses
Where 66046 ranks high
- BikingBetter than 95% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than 94% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than 93% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 90% of zip codes
- Health outlookBetter than 87% of zip codes
Where 66046 ranks low
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 14% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 25% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 25% of zip codes
- School gradeC, better than only 29% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 31% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 66046
A household needs to earn about $68,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 66046 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $70,341, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
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 66046's effective rate of 1.17%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 66046
66046 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 66046.
Who works in 66046, and how
Work in 66046 centers on education and hospitality & food. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 11%
Life in 66046
66046 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 81% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 94% of zip codes. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 66046 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 66046, month by month
66046 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 66046
Kansas City International sits about 38 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 66046
Schools across 66046 average a C, better than 29% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Eudora Elementary SchoolB · 46% proficient
- Sunflower ElementaryB · 45% proficient
- Baldwin Elementary Intermediate CenterB− · 44% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lawrence Southwest Middle SchoolC · 34% proficient
- Eudora Middle SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Billy Mills Middle SchoolC− · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- Lawrence Free State HighC+ · 38% proficient
- Eudora High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
- Baldwin High SchoolC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 66046 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
66046 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 66046 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 66046 suits
Families
Schools land around the 29th percentile and crime safety beats 81%.
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 11% already work from home.
Common questions about living in 66046
Is 66046 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 66046 ranks 7,194th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on biking, state infrastructure, and walkability, and lowest on civic engagement and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 66046 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $246,374. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $70,341 median income, cost of living beats 52% of zip codes.
Is 66046 safe?
Yes, 66046 is safer than 81% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $236 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 66046?
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 66046 good for families?
Schools beat 29% of zip codes, crime safety beats 81%, and childcare runs $796 a month.
Compare 66046 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 66046. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 66046 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.
66046 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 66046: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 66046: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 66046: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 66046: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
66046 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.