Best PlacesJohnson County, KS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Johnson County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Johnson County ranks 29th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $126,893, everyday costs sit below the national average, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are noise, childcare costs, and taxes.
The best neighborhoods in Johnson 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 Johnson County
The parts of Johnson 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.
Stilwell
Local pay stretches further, incomes run higher, and more adults hold degrees.
Leawood
Tree cover is thicker, though fewer households have young kids.
DeSoto
Prices have run up less, though streets are more car-dependent.
Prairie Village, Mission & Roeland Park
Biking is better, though crime runs higher.
Overland Park & Lenexa
Scores close to Prairie Village, Mission & Roeland Park, except that fewer residents vote here.
Shawnee
Homes cost less, though schools score lower.
Olathe & Gardner
Health care is harder to reach and it is noisier.
Johnson County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 11% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Johnson County's strengths and weaknesses
Johnson County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. What local pay buys is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. An educated workforce and few empty homes follow.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. Noise, childcare costs, and taxes hold the score down. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Johnson County ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 99% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 99% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 98% of counties
- Household income$126,893 median, better than 98% of counties
Where Johnson County ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 10% of counties
- Cheap childcare$996 a month, better than only 17% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 17% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 23% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 45% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Johnson County
A household needs to earn about $116,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Johnson County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $126,893, 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 County's effective rate of 1.12%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Johnson County
Johnson County's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Johnson County.
Who works in Johnson County, and how
Work in Johnson County centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 75%
- Work from home 23%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Johnson County
Johnson County has more parkland per resident than 72% of counties and more late-night spots per resident than 79% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Johnson County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Johnson County growing, and who is moving in?
Johnson County has grown about 10% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Kansas City, MO metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Johnson County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Johnson County, month by month
Johnson County sees roughly 97 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 40, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40° | 30° | 23° |
| April | 68° | 55° | 45° |
| July | 89° | 79° | 70° |
| October | 70° | 58° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Johnson County
Kansas City International sits about 26 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 5.7 million passengers in 2025, with 104 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Johnson County
Schools across Johnson County average a B−, better than 62% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Corinth ElemA+ · 81% proficient
- Prairie Creek ElementaryA+ · 81% proficient
- Morse ElementaryA+ · 76% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lakewood MiddleB+ · 47% proficient
- Prairie Trail Middle SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Lexington Trails Middle SchoolB · 46% proficient
Top high schools
- Blue Valley HighB · 48% proficient
- Shawnee Mission East HighB · 47% proficient
- Blue Valley North HighB · 46% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Johnson County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Johnson 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 Johnson County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Johnson County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 99% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 23% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 58% of counties and health care access beats 98%.
Common questions about living in Johnson County
Is Johnson County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Johnson County ranks 29th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on what local pay buys, an educated workforce, and few empty homes, and lowest on noise and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Johnson County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $426,359. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $126,893 median income, cost of living beats 99% of counties.
Is Johnson County safe?
Yes, Johnson County is safer than 72% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $300 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Johnson County?
July highs average about 89 degrees, and January highs near 40 with lows near 23. That works out to about 97 pleasant days a year, more than 58% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Johnson County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Stilwell, Leawood, and DeSoto. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Johnson County good for families?
Schools beat 62% of counties, crime safety beats 72%, and childcare runs $996 a month.
Is Johnson County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 99% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 98% of counties. About 23% of workers already work from home.
Compare Johnson County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Johnson County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Johnson 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.
Johnson County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Johnson County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Johnson County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Johnson County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Johnson County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Johnson 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.