Best PlacesMarion County, KS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Marion County, 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.
Marion County ranks 1,871st of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Marion 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.
Marion County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Marion County ranks high
- Cheap childcare$467 a month, better than 95% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 94% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 84% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 78% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 75% of counties
Where Marion County ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 57 pleasant days a year, better than only 3% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 9% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 15% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 17% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 20% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Marion County
A household needs to earn about $39,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Marion County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $68,935, 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 Marion County's effective rate of 1.43%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Marion County
Marion 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 Marion County.
Who works in Marion County, and how
Work in Marion County centers on education and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Marion County
Marion County has more parkland per resident than 68% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Marion County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Marion County growing, and who is moving in?
Marion County has lost about 4% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Wichita, KS.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Marion County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Marion County, month by month
Marion County sees roughly 57 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 31° | 20° |
| April | 71° | 55° | 42° |
| July | 93° | 80° | 68° |
| October | 74° | 58° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Marion County
The nearest airport, Salina Regional, is about 43 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 146 miles away.
The best schools in and around Marion County
Schools across Marion County average a C+, better than 47% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Hesston ElemA− · 60% proficient
- Hope ElemA− · 58% proficient
- Goessel ElemA− · 57% proficient
Top middle schools
- Remington Middle SchoolB · 43% proficient
- Hesston MiddleB− · 42% proficient
- Marion MiddleB− · 42% proficient
Top high schools
- Hesston HighB− · 42% proficient
- Hillsboro Middle/high SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Southeast Saline HighC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Marion County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Marion 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 Marion County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Marion County
Is Marion County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Marion County ranks 1,871st of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on affordable childcare, state infrastructure, and health care access, and lowest on the weather and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Marion County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $137,511. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $68,935 median income, cost of living beats 70% of counties.
Is Marion County safe?
Marion County is safer than 53% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $348 per resident a year.
Compare Marion County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Marion County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Marion 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.
Marion County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Marion County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Marion County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Marion County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Marion County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Marion 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.