Best PlacesGalena, KS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Galena, 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.
Galena ranks 31,379th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Galena
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.
Galena's strengths and weaknesses
Where Galena ranks high
- Cheap childcare$467 a month, better than 96% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 95% of towns
- Short commute18.4 minutes each way, better than 92% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 85% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 80% of towns
Where Galena ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 7% of towns
- School gradeD+, better than only 17% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 20% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 23% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 26% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Galena
A household needs to earn about $25,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Galena home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $63,541, 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 Galena's effective rate of 1.02%, 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 Galena
Galena runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Galena.
Who works in Galena, and how
Work in Galena centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 94%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Galena
Galena has more restaurants and bars per resident than 97% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Galena and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Galena, month by month
Galena sees roughly 76 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 47, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47° | 35° | 27° |
| April | 71° | 58° | 48° |
| July | 92° | 81° | 71° |
| October | 73° | 61° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Galena
The nearest airport, Joplin Regional, is about 10 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 154 miles away.
The best schools in and around Galena
Schools across Galena average a D+, better than 17% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Riverton ElemC · 35% proficient
- Liberty ElemC− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Central ElemC · 35% proficient
- Galena Middle SchoolD · 23% proficient
- Riverton MiddleD− · 15% proficient
Top high schools
- Columbus Junior High And High SchoolC− · 25% proficient
- Galena HighD+ · 24% proficient
- Riverton HighD · 23% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Galena school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Galena 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 Galena against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Galena
Is Galena a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Galena ranks 31,379th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, state infrastructure, and short commutes, and lowest on air quality and the schools. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Galena expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $91,672. The overall cost of living runs about 23% below the national average. Set against a $63,541 median income, cost of living beats 50% of towns.
Is Galena safe?
Galena is safer than 43% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $381 per resident a year.
Compare Galena with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Galena. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Galena 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.
Galena detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Galena: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Galena: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Galena: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Galena: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Galena 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.