Best PlacesHarlan, KS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Harlan, 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.
Harlan ranks 33,648th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Harlan
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.
Harlan's strengths and weaknesses
Where Harlan ranks high
- Short commute16.4 minutes each way, better than 96% of towns
- Cheap childcare$467 a month, better than 96% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 95% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 89% of towns
- QuietBetter than 83% of towns
Where Harlan ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 6% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 9% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 11% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Harlan
A household needs to earn about $28,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Harlan home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $68,594, 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 Harlan's effective rate of 1.47%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Harlan
Harlan runs older than the country, 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 Harlan.
Who works in Harlan, and how
Work in Harlan centers on agriculture & forestry and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in Harlan
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Harlan.
What the weather is like in Harlan, month by month
Harlan sees roughly 112 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 42, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42° | 29° | 20° |
| April | 70° | 54° | 41° |
| July | 94° | 80° | 68° |
| October | 72° | 56° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Harlan
The nearest airport, Hays Regional, is about 61 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 189 miles away.
The best schools in and around Harlan
Schools across Harlan average a C, better than 38% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lakeside ElementaryA− · 62% proficient
- Osborne ElemB · 48% proficient
- Smith Center ElemC+ · 38% proficient
Top high schools
- Osborne Junior/senior HighB− · 42% proficient
- Smith Center Jr Sr HighD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Harlan school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Harlan 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 Harlan against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Harlan
Is Harlan a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Harlan ranks 33,648th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on short commutes, affordable childcare, and state infrastructure, and lowest on distance from a big city and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Harlan expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $98,623. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $68,594 median income, cost of living beats 62% of towns.
Is Harlan safe?
Harlan is safer than 29% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $411 per resident a year.
Compare Harlan with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Harlan. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Harlan 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.
Harlan detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Harlan: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Harlan: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Harlan: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Harlan: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Harlan 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.