Best PlacesCowley County, KS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Cowley 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.
Cowley County ranks 2,213th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and civic engagement ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Cowley 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.
Cowley County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Cowley County ranks high
- Cheap childcare$467 a month, better than 95% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 94% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 83% of counties
- BikingBetter than 81% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 80% of counties
Where Cowley County ranks low
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 8% of counties
- School gradeD, better than only 8% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 12% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 17% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 22% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Cowley County
A household needs to earn about $37,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Cowley County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $61,462, 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 Cowley County's effective rate of 1.36%, 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 Cowley County
Cowley 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 Cowley County.
Who works in Cowley County, and how
Work in Cowley County centers on manufacturing 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 91%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Cowley County
Cowley County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and more parkland per resident than 96% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Cowley County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Cowley County growing, and who is moving in?
Cowley County has lost about 5% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Wichita, KS.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Cowley County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Cowley County, month by month
Cowley County sees roughly 102 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 47, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47° | 34° | 25° |
| April | 72° | 58° | 46° |
| July | 93° | 81° | 71° |
| October | 75° | 61° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Cowley County
The nearest airport, Wichita Dwight D Eisenhower Ntl, is about 41 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 192 miles away.
The best schools in and around Cowley County
Schools across Cowley County average a D, better than 8% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Dexter ElemB+ · 55% proficient
- Cedar Vale ElemB · 45% proficient
- Leonard C Seal ElemB− · 43% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mulvane Middle SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Udall Middle SchoolC− · 29% proficient
- Marvin Sisk Middle SchoolD+ · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- Dexter HighC− · 29% proficient
- Mulvane HighC− · 28% proficient
- Winfield HighD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Cowley County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Cowley 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 Cowley County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Cowley County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 6% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Cowley County
Is Cowley County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Cowley County ranks 2,213th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on affordable childcare, state infrastructure, and cell coverage, and lowest on civic engagement and the schools. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Cowley County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $130,518. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $61,462 median income, cost of living beats 43% of counties.
Is Cowley County safe?
Cowley County is safer than 48% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $370 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Cowley County?
July highs average about 93 degrees, and January highs near 47 with lows near 25. That works out to about 102 pleasant days a year, more than 62% of counties.
Is Cowley County good for families?
Schools beat 8% of counties, crime safety beats 48%, and childcare runs $467 a month.
Compare Cowley County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Cowley County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Cowley 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.
Cowley County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Cowley County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Cowley County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Cowley County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Cowley County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Cowley 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.