Best PlacesChetopa, KS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Chetopa, 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.
Chetopa ranks 48,759th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Chetopa
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.
Chetopa's strengths and weaknesses
Where Chetopa ranks high
- Cheap childcare$467 a month, better than 96% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 95% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 91% of towns
- BikingBetter than 90% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 87% of towns
Where Chetopa ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- Household income$30,708 median, better than only 3% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 5% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Chetopa
A household needs to earn about $23,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Chetopa home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $30,708, 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 Chetopa's effective rate of 1.54%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Chetopa
Chetopa runs older 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 Chetopa.
Who works in Chetopa, and how
Work in Chetopa centers on manufacturing and education. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Chetopa
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Chetopa.
What the weather is like in Chetopa, month by month
Chetopa sees roughly 93 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 48, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 48° | 35° | 26° |
| April | 72° | 59° | 48° |
| July | 93° | 81° | 71° |
| October | 75° | 61° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Chetopa
The nearest airport, Joplin Regional, is about 34 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 157 miles away.
The best schools in and around Chetopa
Schools across Chetopa average a C−, better than 20% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Southeast Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Bartlett ElemB− · 40% proficient
- Chetopa ElemD+ · 22% proficient
Top middle schools
- Central ElemC · 35% proficient
- Southeast Middle SchoolD · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- Oswego Junior-senior High SchoolC− · 27% proficient
- Columbus Junior High And High SchoolC− · 25% proficient
- Labette County High SchoolD− · 17% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Chetopa school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Chetopa 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 Chetopa against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Chetopa
Is Chetopa a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Chetopa ranks 48,759th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, state infrastructure, and cell coverage, and lowest on a weak job market and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Chetopa expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $79,847. The overall cost of living runs about 22% below the national average. Set against a $30,708 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Chetopa safe?
Chetopa is safer than 24% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $433 per resident a year.
Compare Chetopa with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Chetopa. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Chetopa 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.
Chetopa detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Chetopa: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Chetopa: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Chetopa: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Chetopa: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Chetopa 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.