Best PlacesCoffey County, KS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Coffey County, 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.
Coffey County ranks 1,492nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Coffey 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.
Coffey County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Coffey County ranks high
- Cheap childcare$467 a month, better than 95% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 94% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 77% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 77% of counties
- Short commute21.8 minutes each way, better than 67% of counties
Where Coffey County ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 17% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 17% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 26% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 35% of counties
- TransitBetter than only 35% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Coffey County
A household needs to earn about $42,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Coffey County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $70,421, 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 Coffey County's effective rate of 0.92%, 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 Coffey County
Coffey County 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 Coffey County.
Who works in Coffey County, and how
Work in Coffey County centers on retail trade and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Coffey County
Coffey County has more parkland per resident than 76% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Coffey County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Coffey County growing, and who is moving in?
Coffey County has lost about 1% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Topeka, KS.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Coffey County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Coffey County, month by month
Coffey County sees roughly 103 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 31° | 23° |
| April | 70° | 56° | 45° |
| July | 92° | 79° | 69° |
| October | 72° | 58° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Coffey County
The nearest airport, Manhattan Regional, is about 80 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 91 miles away.
The best schools in and around Coffey County
Schools across Coffey County average a C, better than 42% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Lebo ElemA− · 58% proficient
- Waverly ElemB+ · 53% proficient
- Burlington Elementary SchoolB · 48% proficient
Top middle schools
- Burlington Middle School 5 - 8C · 33% proficient
- Southern Coffey County Middle SchoolD− · 15% proficient
Top high schools
- Olpe Jr./sr. High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Southern Coffey County High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
- Anderson County Jr/sr High SchoolC · 31% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Coffey County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Coffey 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 Coffey County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Coffey County
Is Coffey County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Coffey County ranks 1,492nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on affordable childcare, state infrastructure, and health care access, and lowest on tree cover and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Coffey County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $156,606. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $70,421 median income, cost of living beats 57% of counties.
Is Coffey County safe?
Yes, Coffey County is safer than 77% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $289 per resident a year.
Compare Coffey County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Coffey County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Coffey 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.
Coffey County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Coffey County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Coffey County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Coffey County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Coffey County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Coffey 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.