Best PlacesGray County, KS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Gray 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.
Gray County ranks 1,764th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Gray 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.
Gray County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Gray County ranks high
- Cheap childcare$467 a month, better than 95% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 95% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 94% of counties
- Short commute18.0 minutes each way, better than 88% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 72% of counties
Where Gray County ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 2% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 4% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 9% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 13% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 17% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Gray County
A household needs to earn about $54,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Gray County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $75,661, 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 Gray County's effective rate of 1.35%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Gray County
Gray County runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Gray County.
Who works in Gray County, and how
Work in Gray County centers on agriculture & forestry and construction. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Gray County
Gray County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Gray County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Gray County growing, and who is moving in?
Gray County has lost about 6% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Ford County, KS.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Gray County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Gray County, month by month
Gray County sees roughly 116 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 Gray County
The nearest airport, Garden City Regional, is about 22 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 273 miles away.
The best schools in and around Gray County
Schools across Gray County average a C−, better than 24% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Ingalls ElemA+ · 80% proficient
- Montezuma ElemB+ · 52% proficient
- Cimarron ElemC+ · 37% proficient
Top middle schools
- South Gray Jr HighC− · 28% proficient
- Charles O Stones Intermediate CtrD+ · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- Ingalls High School/junior HighC · 32% proficient
- Cimarron HighD · 20% proficient
- Fowler HighD · 19% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Gray County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Gray 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 Gray County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Gray County
Is Gray County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Gray County ranks 1,764th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on affordable childcare, clean air, and state infrastructure, 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 Gray County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $191,859. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $75,661 median income, cost of living beats 56% of counties.
Is Gray County safe?
Gray County is safer than 40% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $379 per resident a year.
Compare Gray County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Gray County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Gray 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.
Gray County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Gray County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Gray County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Gray County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Gray County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Gray 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.