Best PlacesOsawatomie, KS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Osawatomie, 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.
Osawatomie ranks 31,413th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Osawatomie
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.
Osawatomie's strengths and weaknesses
Where Osawatomie ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 95% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 94% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 89% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 88% of towns
- BikingBetter than 84% of towns
Where Osawatomie ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 2% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 9% of towns
- School gradeD+, better than only 11% of towns
- Short commute33.7 minutes each way, better than only 18% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 23% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Osawatomie
A household needs to earn about $58,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Osawatomie home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $81,508, 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 Osawatomie's effective rate of 1.56%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Osawatomie
Osawatomie runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Osawatomie.
Who works in Osawatomie, and how
Work in Osawatomie centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Osawatomie
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Osawatomie.
What the weather is like in Osawatomie, month by month
Osawatomie sees roughly 91 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 22. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41° | 30° | 22° |
| April | 68° | 55° | 45° |
| July | 90° | 79° | 69° |
| October | 70° | 58° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Osawatomie
Kansas City International sits about 57 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 5.7 million passengers in 2025, with 104 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Osawatomie
Schools across Osawatomie average a D+, better than 11% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Parker ElemB · 50% proficient
- Central Heights ElemB− · 42% proficient
- Trojan ElemC · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- Paola MiddleC · 35% proficient
- Prairie View MiddleD− · 17% proficient
- Osawatomie Middle SchoolD− · 16% proficient
Top high schools
- Wellsville HighC+ · 37% proficient
- Anderson County Jr/sr High SchoolC · 31% proficient
- Paola HighD · 22% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Osawatomie school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Osawatomie 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 Osawatomie against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Osawatomie
Is Osawatomie a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Osawatomie ranks 31,413th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, walkability, and few empty homes, and lowest on noise and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Osawatomie expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $201,558. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $81,508 median income, cost of living beats 69% of towns.
Is Osawatomie safe?
Osawatomie is safer than 25% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $460 per resident a year.
Compare Osawatomie with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Osawatomie. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Osawatomie 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.
Osawatomie detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Osawatomie: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Osawatomie: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Osawatomie: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Osawatomie: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Osawatomie 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.