Best PlacesFort Dodge, KS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Fort Dodge, 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.
Fort Dodge ranks 35,103rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and civic engagement ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Fort Dodge
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.
Fort Dodge's strengths and weaknesses
Where Fort Dodge ranks high
- Short commute15.6 minutes each way, better than 97% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 97% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 96% of towns
- Cheap childcare$467 a month, better than 96% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 95% of towns
Where Fort Dodge ranks low
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 1% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 4% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 4% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 6% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Fort Dodge
A household needs to earn about $22,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Fort Dodge home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $59,091, 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 Fort Dodge's effective rate of 1.41%, 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 3 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Fort Dodge
Fort Dodge 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 Fort Dodge.
Who works in Fort Dodge, and how
Work in Fort Dodge centers on manufacturing and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 94%
- Work from home 2%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Fort Dodge
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Fort Dodge.
What the weather is like in Fort Dodge, month by month
Fort Dodge 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 Fort Dodge
The nearest airport, Dodge City Regional, is about 2 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 294 miles away.
The best schools in and around Fort Dodge
Schools across Fort Dodge average a D, better than 8% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Ross Elementary SchoolC− · 26% proficient
Top middle schools
- Comanche Middle SchoolD− · 15% proficient
Top high schools
- Dodge City High SchoolD− · 17% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Fort Dodge school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Fort Dodge 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 Fort Dodge against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Fort Dodge
Is Fort Dodge a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Fort Dodge ranks 35,103rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on short commutes, clean air, and a strong job market, and lowest on civic engagement and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Fort Dodge expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $78,748. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $59,091 median income, cost of living beats 24% of towns.
Is Fort Dodge safe?
Fort Dodge is safer than 26% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $423 per resident a year.
Compare Fort Dodge with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Fort Dodge. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Fort Dodge 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.
Fort Dodge detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Fort Dodge: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Fort Dodge: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Fort Dodge: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Fort Dodge: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Fort Dodge 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.