Best PlacesErie, KS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Erie, 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.
Erie ranks 24,015th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on walkability by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Erie
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.
Erie's strengths and weaknesses
Where Erie ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 98% of towns
- Cheap childcare$467 a month, better than 96% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 95% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 95% of towns
- Short commute19.2 minutes each way, better than 90% of towns
Where Erie ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 12% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 17% of towns
- Household income$53,738 median, better than only 17% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 18% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 18% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Erie
A household needs to earn about $40,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Erie home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $53,738, 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 Erie's effective rate of 1.42%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Erie
Erie'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 Erie.
Who works in Erie, and how
Work in Erie centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Erie
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Erie.
What the weather is like in Erie, month by month
Erie sees roughly 99 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 46, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 46° | 34° | 26° |
| April | 72° | 58° | 47° |
| July | 93° | 81° | 71° |
| October | 74° | 60° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Erie
The nearest airport, Joplin Regional, is about 50 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 123 miles away.
The best schools in and around Erie
Schools across Erie average a C−, better than 23% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Erie ElementaryB− · 40% proficient
- Chanute Elementary SchoolC · 32% proficient
Top middle schools
- Royster Middle SchoolD · 23% proficient
- Galesburg Middle SchoolD− · 14% proficient
Top high schools
- Chanute HighC− · 28% proficient
- Erie High SchoolC− · 27% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Erie school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Erie 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 Erie against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Erie
Is Erie a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Erie ranks 24,015th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on walkability, affordable childcare, and state infrastructure, and lowest on property taxes and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Erie expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $141,654. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $53,738 median income, cost of living beats 28% of towns.
Is Erie safe?
Yes, Erie is safer than 73% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $248 per resident a year.
Compare Erie with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Erie. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Erie 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.
Erie detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Erie: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Erie: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Erie: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Erie: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Erie 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.