Best PlacesKimball, KS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Kimball, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Kimball ranks 36,865th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and biking ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Kimball
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.
Kimball's strengths and weaknesses
Where Kimball ranks high
- Cheap childcare$467 a month, better than 96% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 95% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 76% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 73% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 100 pleasant days a year, better than 68% of towns
Where Kimball ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 9% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 12% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 18% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 19% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Kimball
A household needs to earn about $46,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Kimball home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $70,156, 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 Kimball's effective rate of 1.44%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Kimball
Kimball runs younger than the country, though it still carries a larger-than-average share of residents over 65, 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 Kimball.
Who works in Kimball, and how
Work in Kimball centers on retail trade and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Kimball
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Kimball.
What the weather is like in Kimball, month by month
Kimball sees roughly 100 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 46, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 46° | 34° | 26° |
| April | 72° | 58° | 47° |
| July | 93° | 81° | 71° |
| October | 74° | 60° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Kimball
The nearest airport, Joplin Regional, is about 52 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 117 miles away.
The best schools in and around Kimball
Schools across Kimball average a C−, better than 22% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- R V Haderlein ElemB+ · 51% proficient
- Erie ElementaryB− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Girard MiddleC · 31% proficient
- Galesburg Middle SchoolD− · 14% proficient
Top high schools
- Girard HighC+ · 37% proficient
- Erie High SchoolC− · 27% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Kimball school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Kimball 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 Kimball against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Kimball
Is Kimball a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Kimball ranks 36,865th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, state infrastructure, and health care access, and lowest on biking and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Kimball expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $162,900. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $70,156 median income, cost of living beats 58% of towns.
Is Kimball safe?
Kimball is safer than 35% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $377 per resident a year.
Compare Kimball with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Kimball. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Kimball 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.
Kimball detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Kimball: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Kimball: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Kimball: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Kimball: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Kimball 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.