Best PlacesMelvern, KS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Melvern, 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.
Melvern ranks 37,945th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Melvern
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.
Melvern's strengths and weaknesses
Where Melvern ranks high
- Cheap childcare$467 a month, better than 96% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 95% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 94% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 86% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 72% of towns
Where Melvern ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 5% of towns
- Short commute40.2 minutes each way, better than only 5% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 5% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 21% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 23% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Melvern
A household needs to earn about $50,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Melvern home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $64,606, 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 Melvern's effective rate of 1.11%, 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 Melvern
Melvern runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Melvern.
Who works in Melvern, and how
Work in Melvern centers on agriculture & forestry and utilities. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Melvern
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Melvern.
What the weather is like in Melvern, month by month
Melvern sees roughly 99 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41° | 30° | 21° |
| April | 70° | 56° | 44° |
| July | 91° | 80° | 69° |
| October | 72° | 58° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Melvern
The nearest airport, Manhattan Regional, is about 71 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 74 miles away.
The best schools in and around Melvern
Schools across Melvern average a C−, better than 23% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Waverly ElemB+ · 53% proficient
- Marais Des Cygnes Valley ElemB− · 42% proficient
- Williamsburg Elementary SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- West Franklin Middle SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Marais Des Cygnes Valley MiddleD− · 19% proficient
Top high schools
- Lebo HighC− · 30% proficient
- West Franklin High SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
- Marais Des Cygnes Valley HighD · 22% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Melvern school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Melvern 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 Melvern against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Melvern
Is Melvern a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Melvern ranks 37,945th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, state infrastructure, and low crime, and lowest on noise and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Melvern expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $183,091. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $64,606 median income, cost of living beats 38% of towns.
Is Melvern safe?
Yes, Melvern is safer than 94% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $177 per resident a year.
Compare Melvern with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Melvern. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Melvern 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.
Melvern detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Melvern: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Melvern: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Melvern: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Melvern: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Melvern 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.