Best PlacesColby, KS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Colby, 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.
Colby ranks 10,861st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Colby
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.
Colby's strengths and weaknesses
Where Colby ranks high
- Short commute10.1 minutes each way, better than 99% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 98% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 98% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 97% of towns
- Cheap childcare$467 a month, better than 96% of towns
Where Colby ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 13% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 14% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 23% of towns
- School gradeC−, better than only 28% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Colby
A household needs to earn about $54,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Colby home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $74,798, 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 Colby's effective rate of 1.39%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Colby
Colby runs younger 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 Colby.
Who works in Colby, and how
Work in Colby centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Colby
Colby has more restaurants and bars per resident than 86% of towns and more parkland per resident than 94% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Colby and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Colby, month by month
Colby sees roughly 132 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 42, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42° | 28° | 18° |
| April | 68° | 50° | 36° |
| July | 92° | 76° | 64° |
| October | 69° | 52° | 39° |
Flying in and out of Colby
The nearest airport, Hays Regional, is about 102 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 196 miles away.
The best schools in and around Colby
Schools across Colby average a C−, better than 28% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Colby ElemC+ · 38% proficient
Top middle schools
- Colby Middle SchoolC− · 29% proficient
Top high schools
- Colby Senior HighD · 23% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Colby school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Colby 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 Colby against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Colby
Is Colby a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Colby ranks 10,861st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on short commutes, clean air, and fast internet, and lowest on distance from a big city and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Colby expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $191,725. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $74,798 median income, cost of living beats 72% of towns.
Is Colby safe?
Yes, Colby is safer than 60% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $287 per resident a year.
Compare Colby with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Colby. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Colby 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.
Colby detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Colby: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Colby: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Colby: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Colby: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Colby 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.