Best PlacesHalstead, KS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Halstead, 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.
Halstead ranks 22,179th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Halstead
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.
Halstead's strengths and weaknesses
Where Halstead ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 95% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 94% of towns
- BikingBetter than 86% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 82% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 79% of towns
Where Halstead ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 55 pleasant days a year, better than only 3% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 15% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 16% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 16% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 20% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Halstead
A household needs to earn about $52,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Halstead home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $81,225, 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 Halstead's effective rate of 1.33%, 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 Halstead
Halstead runs younger than the country, though it still carries a larger-than-average share of residents over 65.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Halstead.
Who works in Halstead, and how
Work in Halstead centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Halstead
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Halstead.
What the weather is like in Halstead, month by month
Halstead sees roughly 55 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 31° | 20° |
| April | 71° | 55° | 42° |
| July | 93° | 80° | 68° |
| October | 74° | 58° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Halstead
The nearest airport, Wichita Dwight D Eisenhower Ntl, is about 25 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 175 miles away.
The best schools in and around Halstead
Schools across Halstead average a C, better than 32% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Hesston ElemA− · 60% proficient
- R L Wright ElemB · 47% proficient
- Bentley Primary SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Moundridge MiddleC− · 30% proficient
- Halstead Middle SchoolC− · 29% proficient
- Haven Middle SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Sedgwick HighC− · 27% proficient
- Moundridge HighD+ · 24% proficient
- Halstead HighD · 23% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Halstead school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Halstead 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 Halstead against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Halstead
Is Halstead a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Halstead ranks 22,179th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, walkability, and biking, and lowest on the weather and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Halstead expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $187,097. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $81,225 median income, cost of living beats 76% of towns.
Is Halstead safe?
Halstead is safer than 20% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $468 per resident a year.
Compare Halstead with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Halstead. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Halstead 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.
Halstead detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Halstead: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Halstead: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Halstead: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Halstead: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Halstead 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.