Best PlacesDoniphan County, KS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Doniphan 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.
Doniphan County ranks 1,673rd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and the schools rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Doniphan 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.
Doniphan County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Doniphan County ranks high
- Cheap childcare$467 a month, better than 95% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 94% of counties
- QuietBetter than 84% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 72% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 70% of counties
Where Doniphan County ranks low
- School gradeD+, better than only 15% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 17% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 17% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 22% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 25% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Doniphan County
A household needs to earn about $40,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Doniphan County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $75,003, 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 Doniphan 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 Doniphan County
Doniphan County's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Doniphan County.
Who works in Doniphan County, and how
Work in Doniphan County 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 86%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Doniphan County
Doniphan County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 97% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Doniphan County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Doniphan County growing, and who is moving in?
Doniphan County has lost about 3% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the St Joseph, MO metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Doniphan County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Doniphan County, month by month
Doniphan County sees roughly 91 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 38, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 38° | 28° | 20° |
| April | 68° | 54° | 43° |
| July | 88° | 78° | 68° |
| October | 70° | 56° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Doniphan County
Kansas City International sits about 39 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 5.7 million passengers in 2025, with 104 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Doniphan County
Schools across Doniphan County average a D+, better than 15% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Doniphan West Elementary SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Atchison County Community Elementary SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Troy ElemC+ · 37% proficient
Top middle schools
- Riverside Middle SchoolD− · 18% proficient
Top high schools
- Troy High And Middle SchoolC− · 27% proficient
- Doniphan West Jr/sr High SchoolD · 23% proficient
- Atchison County Community Jr/sr HighD− · 17% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Doniphan County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Doniphan 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 Doniphan County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Doniphan County
Is Doniphan County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Doniphan County ranks 1,673rd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on affordable childcare, state infrastructure, and quiet, and lowest on the schools and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Doniphan County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $149,112. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $75,003 median income, cost of living beats 72% of counties.
Is Doniphan County safe?
Doniphan County is safer than 37% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $407 per resident a year.
Compare Doniphan County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Doniphan County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Doniphan 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.
Doniphan County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Doniphan County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Doniphan County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Doniphan County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Doniphan County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Doniphan 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.