Best PlacesDodge City, KS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Dodge City, 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.
Dodge City ranks 1,657th of 2,098 U.S. cities 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 Dodge City
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.
Dodge City's strengths and weaknesses
Where Dodge City ranks high
- Short commute12.1 minutes each way, better than 99% of cities
- Cheap childcare$467 a month, better than 99% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than 98% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than 93% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than 90% of cities
Where Dodge City ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 1% of cities
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 5% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 5% of cities
- School gradeD, better than only 6% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than only 6% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Dodge City
A household needs to earn about $44,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Dodge City home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $77,060, 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 Dodge City's effective rate of 1.37%, 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 Dodge City
Dodge City runs younger than the country, 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 Dodge City.
Who works in Dodge City, and how
Work in Dodge City centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 93%
- Work from home 3%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Dodge City
Dodge City has more restaurants and bars per resident than 84% of cities and more parkland per resident than 88% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Dodge City and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Dodge City, month by month
Dodge City sees roughly 112 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 95 degrees. January highs sit near 48, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 48° | 31° | 19° |
| April | 73° | 54° | 39° |
| July | 95° | 80° | 66° |
| October | 76° | 57° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Dodge City
The nearest airport, Dodge City Regional, is about 3 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 290 miles away.
The best schools in and around Dodge City
Schools across Dodge City average a D, better than 6% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Minneola ElemB− · 43% proficient
- Cimarron ElemC+ · 37% proficient
- Bucklin ElemC− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Comanche Middle SchoolD− · 15% proficient
- Dodge City Middle SchoolF · 12% proficient
Top high schools
- Bucklin HighC− · 30% proficient
- Minneola HighD+ · 24% proficient
- Cimarron HighD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Dodge City school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Dodge City 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 Dodge City against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Dodge City suits
Common questions about living in Dodge City
Is Dodge City a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Dodge City ranks 1,657th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on short commutes, affordable childcare, and clean air, and lowest on distance from a big city and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Dodge City expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $156,953. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $77,060 median income, cost of living beats 42% of cities.
Is Dodge City safe?
Dodge City is safer than 10% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $527 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Dodge City?
July highs average about 95 degrees, and January highs near 48 with lows near 19. That works out to about 112 pleasant days a year, more than 67% of cities.
Is Dodge City good for families?
Schools beat 6% of cities, crime safety beats 10%, and childcare runs $467 a month.
Compare Dodge City with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Dodge City. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Dodge City 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.
Dodge City detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Dodge City: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Dodge City: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Dodge City: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Dodge City: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Dodge City 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.