Best PlacesCloud County, KS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Cloud County, 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.
Cloud County ranks 2,015th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Cloud County
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.
Cloud County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Cloud County ranks high
- Cheap childcare$467 a month, better than 95% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 94% of counties
- Short commute16.4 minutes each way, better than 92% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 90% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 84% of counties
Where Cloud County ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 7% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 16% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 17% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 20% of counties
- Household income$57,154 median, better than only 20% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Cloud County
A household needs to earn about $34,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Cloud County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $57,154, 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 Cloud County's effective rate of 1.52%, 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 Cloud County
Cloud County'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 Cloud County.
Who works in Cloud County, and how
Work in Cloud County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Cloud County
Cloud County has more parkland per resident than 70% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Cloud County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Cloud County growing, and who is moving in?
Cloud County has lost about 6% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Brown County, SD.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Cloud County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Cloud County, month by month
Cloud County sees roughly 99 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 42, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42° | 29° | 19° |
| April | 71° | 55° | 41° |
| July | 93° | 79° | 67° |
| October | 73° | 57° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Cloud County
The nearest airport, Salina Regional, is about 51 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 153 miles away.
The best schools in and around Cloud County
Schools across Cloud County average a C−, better than 27% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Pike Valley ElemA− · 60% proficient
- Lincoln ElemB · 50% proficient
- Beloit ElemB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- Concordia MiddleC+ · 38% proficient
- Clifton-clyde Middle SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Clay Center Community MiddleD · 20% proficient
Top high schools
- Clay Center Community HighC · 33% proficient
- Minneapolis Jr-sr High SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Pike Valley HighC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Cloud County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Cloud County 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 Cloud County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Cloud County
Is Cloud County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Cloud County ranks 2,015th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on affordable childcare, state infrastructure, and short commutes, and lowest on property taxes and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Cloud County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $118,347. The overall cost of living runs about 22% below the national average. Set against a $57,154 median income, cost of living beats 34% of counties.
Is Cloud County safe?
Cloud County is safer than 25% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $446 per resident a year.
Compare Cloud County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Cloud County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Cloud County 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.
Cloud County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Cloud County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Cloud County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Cloud County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Cloud County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Cloud County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.