Best PlacesHutchinson, KS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Hutchinson, 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.
Hutchinson ranks 1,733rd of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Hutchinson
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.
Hutchinson's strengths and weaknesses
Where Hutchinson ranks high
- Cheap childcare$467 a month, better than 99% of cities
- Short commute16.1 minutes each way, better than 98% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than 90% of cities
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 72% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 67% of cities
Where Hutchinson ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 2% of cities
- School gradeD+, better than only 10% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than only 11% of cities
- Household income$65,330 median, better than only 15% of cities
- Health outlookBetter than only 17% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Hutchinson
A household needs to earn about $41,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Hutchinson home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $65,330, 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 Hutchinson's effective rate of 1.53%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Hutchinson
Hutchinson'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 Hutchinson.
Who works in Hutchinson, and how
Work in Hutchinson centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Hutchinson
Hutchinson has more restaurants and bars per resident than 73% of cities and more parkland per resident than 89% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Hutchinson and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Hutchinson, month by month
Hutchinson sees roughly 107 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 31° | 21° |
| April | 72° | 56° | 43° |
| July | 94° | 81° | 69° |
| October | 73° | 58° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Hutchinson
The nearest airport, Wichita Dwight D Eisenhower Ntl, is about 40 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 193 miles away.
The best schools in and around Hutchinson
Schools across Hutchinson average a D+, better than 10% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Buhler Grade SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Plum Creek ElementaryB− · 43% proficient
- Inman ElemB− · 42% proficient
Top middle schools
- Pretty Prairie MiddleC · 32% proficient
- Prairie Hills MiddleD+ · 27% proficient
- Haven Middle SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Pretty Prairie HighC+ · 37% proficient
- Buhler HighC− · 28% proficient
- Inman Jr/sr High SchoolD · 22% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Hutchinson school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Hutchinson 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 Hutchinson against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Hutchinson suits
Common questions about living in Hutchinson
Is Hutchinson a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Hutchinson ranks 1,733rd of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on affordable childcare, short commutes, and state infrastructure, and lowest on distance from a big city and the schools. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Hutchinson expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $141,840. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $65,330 median income, cost of living beats 32% of cities.
Is Hutchinson safe?
Hutchinson is safer than 43% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $399 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Hutchinson?
July highs average about 94 degrees, and January highs near 44 with lows near 21. That works out to about 107 pleasant days a year, more than 64% of cities.
Is Hutchinson good for families?
Schools beat 10% of cities, crime safety beats 43%, and childcare runs $467 a month.
Compare Hutchinson with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Hutchinson. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Hutchinson 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.
Hutchinson detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Hutchinson: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Hutchinson: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Hutchinson: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Hutchinson: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Hutchinson 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.