Best PlacesClearwater, KS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Clearwater, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Clearwater ranks 5,113th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on few empty homes by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Clearwater
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.
Clearwater's strengths and weaknesses
Where Clearwater ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 95% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 94% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 93% of towns
- Household income$107,098 median, better than 89% of towns
Where Clearwater ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 14% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 17% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 17% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 22% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 23% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Clearwater
A household needs to earn about $70,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Clearwater home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $107,098, 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 Clearwater's effective rate of 1.27%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Clearwater
Clearwater's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Clearwater.
Who works in Clearwater, and how
Work in Clearwater centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Clearwater
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Clearwater.
What the weather is like in Clearwater, month by month
Clearwater sees roughly 100 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 95 degrees. January highs sit near 47, with lows near 22. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47° | 33° | 22° |
| April | 73° | 57° | 44° |
| July | 95° | 82° | 69° |
| October | 76° | 60° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Clearwater
The nearest airport, Wichita Dwight D Eisenhower Ntl, is about 9 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 194 miles away.
The best schools in and around Clearwater
Schools across Clearwater average a C+, better than 43% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Oak Street Elementary School K-4A− · 58% proficient
- Amelia Earhart Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Oatville ElemB · 48% proficient
Top middle schools
- Challenger Intermediate SchoolB · 43% proficient
- Clearwater Intermediate - Middle SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
- Haysville West Middle SchoolD · 20% proficient
Top high schools
- Goddard HighC− · 27% proficient
- Clearwater HighD+ · 25% proficient
- Campus High HaysvilleD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Clearwater school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Clearwater 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 Clearwater against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Clearwater
Is Clearwater a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Clearwater ranks 5,113th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on few empty homes, state infrastructure, and what local pay buys, and lowest on tree cover and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Clearwater expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $250,374. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $107,098 median income, cost of living beats 94% of towns.
Is Clearwater safe?
Yes, Clearwater is safer than 82% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $233 per resident a year.
Compare Clearwater with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Clearwater. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Clearwater 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.
Clearwater detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Clearwater: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Clearwater: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Clearwater: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Clearwater: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Clearwater 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.