Best PlacesLane County, KS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Lane 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.
Lane County ranks 2,061st of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Lane 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.
Lane County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Lane County ranks high
- QuietBetter than 99% of counties
- Short commute12.8 minutes each way, better than 98% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 98% of counties
- Cheap childcare$467 a month, better than 95% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 94% of counties
Where Lane County ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 1% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 4% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 10% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 12% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 15% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Lane County
A household needs to earn about $33,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lane County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $56,625, 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 Lane County's effective rate of 1.37%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Lane County
Lane 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 Lane County.
Who works in Lane County, and how
Work in Lane County centers on agriculture & forestry and wholesale trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 12%
Life in Lane County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Lane County.
Is Lane County growing, and who is moving in?
Lane County has lost about 11% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Scott County, KS.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Lane County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Lane County, month by month
Lane County sees roughly 122 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 45, with lows near 17. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45° | 28° | 17° |
| April | 71° | 52° | 37° |
| July | 94° | 78° | 65° |
| October | 73° | 54° | 39° |
Flying in and out of Lane County
The nearest airport, Garden City Regional, is about 42 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 243 miles away.
The best schools in and around Lane County
Schools across Lane County average a C−, better than 23% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Dighton ElemB− · 40% proficient
- Healy ElemD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Scott City MiddleC · 32% proficient
Top high schools
- Healy HighD+ · 25% proficient
- Dighton HighD+ · 24% proficient
- Scott City HighD · 23% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lane County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lane 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 Lane County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Lane County
Is Lane County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lane County ranks 2,061st of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on quiet, short commutes, and a stable housing market, 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 Lane County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $115,360. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $56,625 median income, cost of living beats 23% of counties.
Is Lane County safe?
Lane County is safer than 10% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $597 per resident a year.
Compare Lane County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lane County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lane 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.
Lane County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lane County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lane County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lane County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lane County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lane 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.