Best PlacesJohnson City, KS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Johnson City, 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.
Johnson City ranks 25,593rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Johnson City
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.
Johnson City's strengths and weaknesses
Where Johnson City ranks high
- Short commute11.5 minutes each way, better than 99% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 97% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 97% of towns
- Cheap childcare$467 a month, better than 96% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 95% of towns
Where Johnson City ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 2% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 4% of towns
- School gradeD+, better than only 10% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 13% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Johnson City
A household needs to earn about $20,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Johnson City home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $71,202, 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 Johnson City's effective rate of 1.91%, 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 Johnson City
Johnson City runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Johnson City.
Who works in Johnson City, and how
Work in Johnson City centers on agriculture & forestry and transportation & warehousing. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 93%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Johnson City
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Johnson City.
What the weather is like in Johnson City, month by month
Johnson City sees roughly 76 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 48, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 48° | 32° | 21° |
| April | 73° | 54° | 39° |
| July | 94° | 78° | 65° |
| October | 74° | 56° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Johnson City
The nearest airport, Liberal Mid-America Regional, is about 57 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 223 miles away.
The best schools in and around Johnson City
Schools across Johnson City average a D+, better than 10% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Stanton County ElementaryB− · 40% proficient
- Syracuse ElemC · 33% proficient
Top high schools
- Syracuse HighD− · 12% proficient
- Stanton County Jr./sr. High SchoolD− · 12% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Johnson City school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Johnson City 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 Johnson City against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Johnson City
Is Johnson City a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Johnson City ranks 25,593rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on short commutes, clean air, and walkability, and lowest on tree cover and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Johnson City expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $67,973. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $71,202 median income, cost of living beats 75% of towns.
Is Johnson City safe?
Johnson City is safer than 17% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $503 per resident a year.
Compare Johnson City with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Johnson City. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Johnson City 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.
Johnson City detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Johnson City: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Johnson City: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Johnson City: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Johnson City: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Johnson City 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.