Best PlacesRoxbury, KS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Roxbury, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Roxbury ranks 14,926th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Roxbury
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.
Roxbury's strengths and weaknesses
Where Roxbury ranks high
- Short commute13.2 minutes each way, better than 98% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 97% of towns
- Cheap childcare$467 a month, better than 96% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 95% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 93% of towns
Where Roxbury ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 7% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 10% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 12% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 14% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 23% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Roxbury
A household needs to earn about $75,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Roxbury home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $78,640, 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 Roxbury's effective rate of 1.37%, 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 Roxbury
Roxbury'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 Roxbury.
Who works in Roxbury, and how
Work in Roxbury centers on manufacturing and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Roxbury
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Roxbury.
What the weather is like in Roxbury, month by month
Roxbury sees roughly 107 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 22. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 31° | 22° |
| April | 71° | 56° | 44° |
| July | 94° | 81° | 70° |
| October | 73° | 58° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Roxbury
The nearest airport, Salina Regional, is about 25 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 167 miles away.
The best schools in and around Roxbury
Schools across Roxbury average a C−, better than 26% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Soderstrom ElemB+ · 53% proficient
- Canton-galva ElementaryB− · 40% proficient
- Eisenhower ElementaryC+ · 37% proficient
Top middle schools
- Smoky Valley Middle SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Mcpherson Middle SchoolD+ · 26% proficient
Top high schools
- Smoky Valley HighC− · 27% proficient
- Mcpherson HighD+ · 25% proficient
- Canton-galva Jr./sr. HighD− · 15% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Roxbury school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Roxbury 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 Roxbury against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Roxbury
Is Roxbury a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Roxbury ranks 14,926th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on short commutes, cell coverage, and affordable childcare, and lowest on tree cover and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Roxbury expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $267,879. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $78,640 median income, cost of living beats 80% of towns.
Is Roxbury safe?
Yes, Roxbury is safer than 81% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $227 per resident a year.
Compare Roxbury with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Roxbury. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Roxbury 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.
Roxbury detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Roxbury: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Roxbury: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Roxbury: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Roxbury: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Roxbury 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.