Best PlacesHalford, KS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Halford, 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.
Halford ranks 17,558th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Halford
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.
Halford's strengths and weaknesses
Where Halford ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 98% of towns
- Short commute14.8 minutes each way, better than 98% of towns
- Cheap childcare$467 a month, better than 96% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 95% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 89% of towns
Where Halford ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 2% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 12% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 13% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 15% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Halford
A household needs to earn about $65,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Halford home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $89,000, 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 Halford's effective rate of 1.25%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Halford
Halford'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 Halford.
Who works in Halford, and how
Work in Halford centers on agriculture & forestry and wholesale trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Halford
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Halford.
What the weather is like in Halford, month by month
Halford sees roughly 123 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 42, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42° | 28° | 18° |
| April | 68° | 50° | 36° |
| July | 92° | 76° | 64° |
| October | 69° | 52° | 39° |
Flying in and out of Halford
The nearest airport, Hays Regional, is about 92 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 206 miles away.
The best schools in and around Halford
Schools across Halford average a C−, better than 21% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Colby ElemC+ · 38% proficient
- Oakley ElemC · 33% proficient
- Golden Plains ElemD+ · 24% proficient
Top middle schools
- Colby Middle SchoolC− · 29% proficient
- Golden Plains MiddleD+ · 27% proficient
- Oakley Middle SchoolD · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- Golden Plains HighD+ · 24% proficient
- Oakley Sr HighD+ · 24% proficient
- Colby Senior HighD · 23% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Halford school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Halford 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 Halford against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Halford
Is Halford a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Halford ranks 17,558th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on clean air, short commutes, and affordable childcare, 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 Halford expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $235,900. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $89,000 median income, cost of living beats 89% of towns.
Is Halford safe?
Halford is safer than 30% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $395 per resident a year.
Compare Halford with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Halford. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Halford 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.
Halford detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Halford: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Halford: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Halford: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Halford: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Halford 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.