Best PlacesDorrance, KS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Dorrance, 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.
Dorrance ranks 41,736th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Dorrance
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.
Dorrance's strengths and weaknesses
Where Dorrance ranks high
- Cheap childcare$467 a month, better than 96% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 95% of towns
- Short commute19.2 minutes each way, better than 90% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 87% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 116 pleasant days a year, better than 78% of towns
Where Dorrance ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 8% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 13% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 14% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 15% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Dorrance
A household needs to earn about $32,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Dorrance home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $62,500, 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 Dorrance's effective rate of 1.31%, 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 Dorrance
Dorrance 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 Dorrance.
Who works in Dorrance, and how
Work in Dorrance centers on agriculture & forestry and manufacturing. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 97%
- Work from home 1%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Dorrance
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Dorrance.
What the weather is like in Dorrance, month by month
Dorrance sees roughly 116 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 42, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42° | 29° | 20° |
| April | 70° | 54° | 41° |
| July | 94° | 80° | 68° |
| October | 72° | 56° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Dorrance
The nearest airport, Hays Regional, is about 37 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 210 miles away.
The best schools in and around Dorrance
Schools across Dorrance average a C−, better than 18% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Central Plains Elementary School - HolyroodA · 68% proficient
- Wilson Elementary SchoolC · 32% proficient
Top middle schools
- Ruppenthal MiddleD− · 15% proficient
Top high schools
- Wilson Junior/senior High SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Central Plains Jr. Sr. High SchoolC− · 27% proficient
- Russell HighF · 11% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Dorrance school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Dorrance 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 Dorrance against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Dorrance
Is Dorrance a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Dorrance ranks 41,736th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, state infrastructure, and short commutes, and lowest on distance from a big city and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Dorrance expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $113,500. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $62,500 median income, cost of living beats 57% of towns.
Is Dorrance safe?
Dorrance is safer than 8% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $619 per resident a year.
Compare Dorrance with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Dorrance. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Dorrance 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.
Dorrance detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Dorrance: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Dorrance: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Dorrance: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Dorrance: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Dorrance 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.