Best PlacesHarvey County, KS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Harvey County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime read low across the board, which puts the choice down to which part suits you. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Harvey County ranks 1,266th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cell coverage by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Harvey 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.
The best areas in Harvey County
The parts of Harvey County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Hesston
More adults hold degrees, crime runs lower, and fewer homes sit empty.
Newton
More residents vote, though fewer households have young kids.
Halstead
It is quieter.
Scores across Harvey County run from about the 7th to the 65th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Harvey County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Harvey County ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 94% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 94% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 88% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 83% of counties
- BikingBetter than 81% of counties
Where Harvey County ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 57 pleasant days a year, better than only 3% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 7% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 10% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 17% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 21% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Harvey County
A household needs to earn about $53,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Harvey County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $76,692, 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 Harvey County's effective rate of 1.42%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Harvey County
Harvey County'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 Harvey County.
Who works in Harvey County, and how
Work in Harvey County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Harvey County
Harvey County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Harvey County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Harvey County growing, and who is moving in?
Harvey County has lost about 3% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Wichita, KS metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Harvey County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Harvey County, month by month
Harvey County sees roughly 57 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 Harvey County
The nearest airport, Wichita Dwight D Eisenhower Ntl, is about 28 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 168 miles away.
The best schools in and around Harvey County
Schools across Harvey County average a C, better than 32% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Hesston ElemA− · 60% proficient
- Goessel ElemA− · 57% proficient
- Buhler Grade SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Remington Middle SchoolB · 43% proficient
- Hesston MiddleB− · 42% proficient
- Moundridge MiddleC− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- Hesston HighB− · 42% proficient
- Buhler HighC− · 28% proficient
- Sedgwick HighC− · 27% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Harvey County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Harvey 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 Harvey County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Harvey County suits
Families
Schools land around the 32nd percentile and crime safety beats 76%.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 83% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 10% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Harvey County
Is Harvey County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Harvey County ranks 1,266th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on cell coverage, state infrastructure, and few empty homes, and lowest on the weather and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Harvey County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $186,218. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $76,692 median income, cost of living beats 83% of counties.
Is Harvey County safe?
Yes, Harvey County is safer than 76% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $301 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Harvey County?
July highs average about 93 degrees, and January highs near 44 with lows near 20. That works out to about 57 pleasant days a year, more than 3% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Harvey County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Hesston, Newton, and Halstead. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Harvey County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Harvey County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Harvey 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.
Harvey County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Harvey County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Harvey County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Harvey County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Harvey County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Harvey 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.