Best PlacesPolk, KS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Polk, 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.
Polk ranks 30,259th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on fast internet by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Polk
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.
Polk's strengths and weaknesses
Where Polk ranks high
- Internet speedBetter than 98% of towns
- Cheap childcare$467 a month, better than 96% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 95% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 86% of towns
- Short commute22.0 minutes each way, better than 80% of towns
Where Polk ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 9% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 16% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 20% of towns
- Household income$56,487 median, better than only 21% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 23% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Polk
A household needs to earn about $41,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Polk home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $56,487, 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 Polk's effective rate of 0.99%, 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 Polk
Polk's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Polk.
Who works in Polk, and how
Work in Polk centers on health care & social and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Polk
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Polk.
What the weather is like in Polk, month by month
Polk sees roughly 92 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 45, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45° | 34° | 26° |
| April | 70° | 58° | 48° |
| July | 91° | 80° | 71° |
| October | 72° | 60° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Polk
The nearest airport, Joplin Regional, is about 33 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 123 miles away.
The best schools in and around Polk
Schools across Polk average a C+, better than 50% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- R V Haderlein ElemB+ · 51% proficient
Top middle schools
- Girard MiddleC · 31% proficient
Top high schools
- Girard HighC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Polk school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Polk 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 Polk against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Polk
Is Polk a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Polk ranks 30,259th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on fast internet, affordable childcare, and state infrastructure, and lowest on tree cover and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Polk expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $154,613. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $56,487 median income, cost of living beats 35% of towns.
Is Polk safe?
Polk is safer than 28% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $408 per resident a year.
Compare Polk with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Polk. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Polk 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.
Polk detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Polk: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Polk: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Polk: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Polk: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Polk 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.