Best PlacesNew Salem, KS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around New Salem, 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.
New Salem ranks 37,182nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in New Salem
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.
New Salem's strengths and weaknesses
Where New Salem ranks high
- Cheap childcare$467 a month, better than 96% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 95% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 92% of towns
- Short commute22.1 minutes each way, better than 79% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 104 pleasant days a year, better than 71% of towns
Where New Salem ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 10% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 12% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 13% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 16% of towns
- School gradeD+, better than only 18% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in New Salem
A household needs to earn about $42,000 a year to comfortably buy the median New Salem home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $61,774, 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 New Salem's effective rate of 0.69%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in New Salem
New Salem runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for New Salem.
Who works in New Salem, and how
Work in New Salem centers on utilities and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 94%
- Work from home 2%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in New Salem
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across New Salem.
What the weather is like in New Salem, month by month
New Salem sees roughly 104 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 47, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47° | 34° | 25° |
| April | 72° | 58° | 46° |
| July | 93° | 81° | 71° |
| October | 75° | 61° | 50° |
Flying in and out of New Salem
The nearest airport, Wichita Dwight D Eisenhower Ntl, is about 38 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 181 miles away.
The best schools in and around New Salem
Schools across New Salem average a D+, better than 18% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Central ElemC · 30% proficient
- Whittier ElemC− · 28% proficient
Top middle schools
- Winfield Middle SchoolD · 23% proficient
Top high schools
- Winfield HighD+ · 25% proficient
- Central Jr-sr HighD− · 17% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every New Salem school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
New Salem 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 New Salem against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in New Salem
Is New Salem a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, New Salem ranks 37,182nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, state infrastructure, and a strong job market, and lowest on tree cover and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is New Salem expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $164,289. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $61,774 median income, cost of living beats 43% of towns.
Is New Salem safe?
New Salem is safer than 13% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $543 per resident a year.
Compare New Salem with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to New Salem. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in New Salem 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.
New Salem detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for New Salem: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in New Salem: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of New Salem: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in New Salem: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
New Salem 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.