Best PlacesFranklin County, KS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Franklin 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.
Franklin County ranks 1,424th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Franklin 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.
Franklin County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Franklin County ranks high
- Cheap childcare$467 a month, better than 95% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 94% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 84% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 78% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 78% of counties
Where Franklin County ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 11% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 15% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 17% of counties
- School gradeC−, better than only 25% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 28% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Franklin County
A household needs to earn about $58,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Franklin County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $76,329, 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 Franklin County's effective rate of 1.38%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Franklin County
Franklin 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 Franklin County.
Who works in Franklin County, and how
Work in Franklin County centers on retail trade 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 87%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Franklin County
Franklin County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and more parkland per resident than 81% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Franklin County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Franklin County growing, and who is moving in?
Franklin County has grown about 3% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Kansas City, MO.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Franklin County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Franklin County, month by month
Franklin County sees roughly 92 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 22. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41° | 30° | 22° |
| April | 68° | 55° | 45° |
| July | 90° | 79° | 69° |
| October | 70° | 58° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Franklin County
Kansas City International sits about 56 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 Franklin County
Schools across Franklin County average a C−, better than 25% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Waverly ElemB+ · 53% proficient
- Garnett Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Baldwin Elementary Intermediate CenterB− · 44% proficient
Top middle schools
- Paola MiddleC · 35% proficient
- Wellsville Middle SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Carbondale Attendance CenterC− · 29% proficient
Top high schools
- Wellsville HighC+ · 37% proficient
- Baldwin High SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Santa Fe Trail HighC · 32% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Franklin County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Franklin 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 Franklin County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Franklin County suits
Families
Schools land around the 25th percentile and crime safety beats 77%.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 70% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 10% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Franklin County
Is Franklin County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Franklin County ranks 1,424th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on affordable childcare, state infrastructure, and fast internet, and lowest on property taxes and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Franklin County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $207,214. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $76,329 median income, cost of living beats 70% of counties.
Is Franklin County safe?
Yes, Franklin County is safer than 77% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $284 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Franklin County?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 41 with lows near 22. That works out to about 92 pleasant days a year, more than 54% of counties.
Is Franklin County good for families?
Schools beat 25% of counties, crime safety beats 77%, and childcare runs $467 a month.
Compare Franklin County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Franklin County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Franklin 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.
Franklin County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Franklin County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Franklin County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Franklin County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Franklin County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Franklin 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.