Best PlacesBarnes, KS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Barnes, 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.
Barnes ranks 18,667th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and civic engagement ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Barnes
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.
Barnes' strengths and weaknesses
Where Barnes ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 95% of towns
- Cheap childcare$474 a month, better than 95% of towns
- Short commute19.4 minutes each way, better than 90% of towns
- QuietBetter than 83% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 83% of towns
Where Barnes ranks low
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 7% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 17% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 19% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 19% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 23% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Barnes
A household needs to earn about $33,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Barnes home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $69,662, 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 Barnes' effective rate of 0.97%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Barnes
Barnes's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Barnes.
Who works in Barnes, and how
Work in Barnes centers on agriculture & forestry and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Barnes
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Barnes.
What the weather is like in Barnes, month by month
Barnes sees roughly 75 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 37, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37° | 26° | 18° |
| April | 67° | 53° | 41° |
| July | 89° | 78° | 68° |
| October | 69° | 55° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Barnes
The nearest airport, Manhattan Regional, is about 40 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 118 miles away.
The best schools in and around Barnes
Schools across Barnes average a B−, better than 56% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Linn ElemB · 50% proficient
- Mccormick ElementaryC+ · 36% proficient
- Washington ElementaryC · 33% proficient
Top middle schools
- Randolph MiddleC+ · 38% proficient
Top high schools
- Linn HighD+ · 25% proficient
- Blue Valley HighD+ · 24% proficient
- Washington County High SchoolD · 23% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Barnes school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Barnes 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 Barnes against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Barnes
Is Barnes a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Barnes ranks 18,667th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, affordable childcare, and short commutes, and lowest on civic engagement and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Barnes expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $124,680. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $69,662 median income, cost of living beats 64% of towns.
Is Barnes safe?
Barnes is safer than 51% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $317 per resident a year.
Compare Barnes with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Barnes. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Barnes 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.
Barnes detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Barnes: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Barnes: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Barnes: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Barnes: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Barnes 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.