Best PlacesLabette County, KS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Labette County, 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.
Labette County ranks 2,209th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Labette 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.
Labette County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Labette County ranks high
- Cheap childcare$467 a month, better than 95% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 94% of counties
- Short commute16.7 minutes each way, better than 92% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 77% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 76% of counties
Where Labette County ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 7% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 7% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 8% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 10% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 14% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Labette County
A household needs to earn about $31,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Labette County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $58,546, 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 Labette County's effective rate of 1.49%, 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 Labette County
Labette County runs older 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 Labette County.
Who works in Labette County, and how
Work in Labette County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Labette County
Labette County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and more parkland per resident than 87% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Labette County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Labette County growing, and who is moving in?
Labette County has lost about 5% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Polk County, TX.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Labette County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Labette County, month by month
Labette County sees roughly 101 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 47, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47° | 34° | 24° |
| April | 72° | 58° | 47° |
| July | 93° | 81° | 70° |
| October | 75° | 61° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Labette County
The nearest airport, Joplin Regional, is about 43 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 144 miles away.
The best schools in and around Labette County
Schools across Labette County average a C, better than 28% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Edna ElemB+ · 53% proficient
- Southeast Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Lincoln Central ElemB · 47% proficient
Top middle schools
- Southeast Middle SchoolD · 22% proficient
- Parsons Middle SchoolD · 20% proficient
Top high schools
- Oswego Junior-senior High SchoolC− · 27% proficient
- Labette County High SchoolD− · 17% proficient
- Chetopa HighD− · 17% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Labette County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Labette 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 Labette County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Labette County suits
Common questions about living in Labette County
Is Labette County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Labette County ranks 2,209th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on affordable childcare, state infrastructure, and short commutes, and lowest on a weak job market and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Labette County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $108,438. The overall cost of living runs about 22% below the national average. Set against a $58,546 median income, cost of living beats 38% of counties.
Is Labette County safe?
Labette County is safer than 48% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $360 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Labette County?
July highs average about 93 degrees, and January highs near 47 with lows near 24. That works out to about 101 pleasant days a year, more than 61% of counties.
Is Labette County good for families?
Schools beat 28% of counties, crime safety beats 48%, and childcare runs $467 a month.
Compare Labette County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Labette County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Labette 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.
Labette County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Labette County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Labette County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Labette County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Labette County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Labette 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.