Best PlacesMorris County, KS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Morris 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.
Morris County ranks 1,949th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Morris 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.
Morris County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Morris County ranks high
- Cheap childcare$467 a month, better than 95% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 94% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 85% of counties
- QuietBetter than 79% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 74% of counties
Where Morris County ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 8% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 17% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 20% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 21% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 23% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Morris County
A household needs to earn about $37,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Morris County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $60,568, 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 Morris County's effective rate of 1.46%, 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 Morris County
Morris 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 Morris County.
Who works in Morris County, and how
Work in Morris County centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Morris County
Morris County has more parkland per resident than 88% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Morris County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Morris County growing, and who is moving in?
Morris County has lost about 7% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Topeka, KS.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Morris County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Morris County, month by month
Morris County sees roughly 86 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 31° | 23° |
| April | 70° | 56° | 45° |
| July | 92° | 79° | 69° |
| October | 72° | 58° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Morris County
The nearest airport, Manhattan Regional, is about 31 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 109 miles away.
The best schools in and around Morris County
Schools across Morris County average a C, better than 39% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Hope ElemA− · 58% proficient
- Council Grove Elementary SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Chase County Elementary SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top middle schools
- Herington Middle SchD− · 19% proficient
Top high schools
- Council Grove Junior Senior High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
- Chase County Junior Senior High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Hope HighD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Morris County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Morris 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 Morris County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Morris County
Is Morris County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Morris County ranks 1,949th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on affordable childcare, state infrastructure, and health care access, and lowest on property taxes and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Morris County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $129,114. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $60,568 median income, cost of living beats 31% of counties.
Is Morris County safe?
Yes, Morris County is safer than 62% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $337 per resident a year.
Compare Morris County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Morris County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Morris 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.
Morris County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Morris County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Morris County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Morris County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Morris County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Morris 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.