Best PlacesIsabel, KS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Isabel, 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.
Isabel ranks 42,652nd of 50,333 U.S. towns 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 Isabel
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.
Isabel's strengths and weaknesses
Where Isabel ranks high
- Cheap childcare$467 a month, better than 96% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 95% of towns
- QuietBetter than 86% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 85% of towns
- Short commute20.9 minutes each way, better than 84% of towns
Where Isabel ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 6% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 9% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 9% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 12% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Isabel
A household needs to earn about $26,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Isabel home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $79,091, 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 Isabel's effective rate of 1.26%, 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 3 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Isabel
Isabel runs younger 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 Isabel.
Who works in Isabel, and how
Work in Isabel centers on agriculture & forestry and education. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 94%
- Work from home 2%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Isabel
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Isabel.
What the weather is like in Isabel, month by month
Isabel sees roughly 113 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 96 degrees. January highs sit near 48, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 48° | 34° | 23° |
| April | 74° | 58° | 45° |
| July | 96° | 82° | 70° |
| October | 75° | 59° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Isabel
The nearest airport, Wichita Dwight D Eisenhower Ntl, is about 63 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 244 miles away.
The best schools in and around Isabel
Schools across Isabel average a C−, better than 30% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Cunningham ElemA− · 62% proficient
- Medicine Lodge Grade SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Skyline ElemC · 33% proficient
Top high schools
- Cunningham HighC− · 27% proficient
- Medicine Lodge Jr/sr High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Skyline HighD− · 17% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Isabel school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Isabel 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 Isabel against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Isabel
Is Isabel a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Isabel ranks 42,652nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, state infrastructure, and quiet, and lowest on distance from a big city and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Isabel expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $92,392. The overall cost of living runs about 31% above the national average. Set against a $79,091 median income, cost of living beats 14% of towns.
Is Isabel safe?
Isabel is safer than 12% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $547 per resident a year.
Compare Isabel with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Isabel. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Isabel 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.
Isabel detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Isabel: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Isabel: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Isabel: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Isabel: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Isabel 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.