Best PlacesGrainfield, KS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Grainfield, 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.
Grainfield ranks 32,115th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Grainfield
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.
Grainfield's strengths and weaknesses
Where Grainfield ranks high
- Cheap childcare$467 a month, better than 96% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 95% of towns
- Short commute18.0 minutes each way, better than 93% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 92% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 91% of towns
Where Grainfield ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 2% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 9% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 16% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 17% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Grainfield
A household needs to earn about $30,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Grainfield home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $59,294, 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 Grainfield's effective rate of 1.27%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Grainfield
Grainfield'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 Grainfield.
Who works in Grainfield, and how
Work in Grainfield centers on agriculture & forestry and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Grainfield
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Grainfield.
What the weather is like in Grainfield, month by month
Grainfield sees roughly 122 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 45, with lows near 17. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45° | 28° | 17° |
| April | 71° | 52° | 37° |
| July | 94° | 78° | 65° |
| October | 73° | 54° | 39° |
Flying in and out of Grainfield
The nearest airport, Hays Regional, is about 67 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 230 miles away.
The best schools in and around Grainfield
Schools across Grainfield average a C−, better than 19% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Hoxie ElemC+ · 35% proficient
- Quinter ElemC− · 27% proficient
- Grinnell Grade SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Grinnell Middle SchoolD− · 17% proficient
Top high schools
- Wheatland High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Quinter Jr-sr HighC− · 28% proficient
- Golden Plains HighD+ · 24% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Grainfield school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Grainfield 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 Grainfield against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Grainfield
Is Grainfield a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Grainfield ranks 32,115th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, state infrastructure, and short commutes, and lowest on tree cover 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 Grainfield expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $107,320. The overall cost of living runs about 22% below the national average. Set against a $59,294 median income, cost of living beats 46% of towns.
Is Grainfield safe?
Grainfield is safer than 16% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $498 per resident a year.
Compare Grainfield with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Grainfield. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Grainfield 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.
Grainfield detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Grainfield: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Grainfield: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Grainfield: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Grainfield: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Grainfield 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.