Best PlacesEllis County, KS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Ellis 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.
Ellis County ranks 846th of 3,144 U.S. counties 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 Ellis 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.
Ellis County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Ellis County ranks high
- Short commute12.9 minutes each way, better than 98% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 97% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 94% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 90% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 88% of counties
Where Ellis County ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 4% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 6% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 17% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 18% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 22% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Ellis County
A household needs to earn about $61,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ellis County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $70,718, 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 Ellis County's effective rate of 1.13%, 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 Ellis County
Ellis County 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 Ellis County.
Who works in Ellis County, and how
Work in Ellis County centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in Ellis County
Ellis County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 66% of counties and more parkland per resident than 89% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Ellis County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Ellis County growing, and who is moving in?
Ellis County has held roughly flat in population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Denver, CO.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Ellis County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Ellis County, month by month
Ellis County sees roughly 79 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 29° | 19° |
| April | 70° | 53° | 40° |
| July | 93° | 79° | 66° |
| October | 72° | 55° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Ellis County
The nearest airport, Hays Regional, is about 4 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 247 miles away.
The best schools in and around Ellis County
Schools across Ellis County average a B−, better than 70% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Kathryn O'loughlin Mccarthy ElemA · 68% proficient
- Otis-bison ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
- La Crosse ElementaryB · 48% proficient
Top middle schools
- Palco Jr. HighA− · 58% proficient
- Hays Middle SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Ruppenthal MiddleD− · 15% proficient
Top high schools
- Hays HighC · 35% proficient
- Ellis Jr/sr HighC− · 27% proficient
- Palco HighD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Ellis County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ellis 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 Ellis County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Ellis County suits
Common questions about living in Ellis County
Is Ellis County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ellis County ranks 846th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on short commutes, walkability, and state infrastructure, and lowest on distance from a big city and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Ellis County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $221,829. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $70,718 median income, cost of living beats 60% of counties.
Is Ellis County safe?
Yes, Ellis County is safer than 61% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $335 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Ellis County?
July highs average about 93 degrees, and January highs near 43 with lows near 19. That works out to about 79 pleasant days a year, more than 38% of counties.
Is Ellis County good for families?
Schools beat 70% of counties, crime safety beats 61%, and childcare runs $796 a month.
Compare Ellis County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ellis County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ellis 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.
Ellis County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ellis County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ellis County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ellis County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ellis County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ellis 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.