Best PlacesShallow Water, KS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Shallow Water, 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.
Shallow Water ranks 14,381st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Shallow Water
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.
Shallow Water's strengths and weaknesses
Where Shallow Water ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 98% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of towns
- Short commute14.7 minutes each way, better than 98% of towns
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 95% of towns
Where Shallow Water ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 2% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 6% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 9% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 9% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Shallow Water
A household needs to earn about $45,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Shallow Water home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $90,677, 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 Shallow Water's effective rate of 1.57%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Shallow Water
Shallow Water runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Shallow Water.
Who works in Shallow Water, and how
Work in Shallow Water centers on agriculture & forestry and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Shallow Water
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Shallow Water.
What the weather is like in Shallow Water, month by month
Shallow Water sees roughly 122 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 45, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45° | 30° | 18° |
| April | 71° | 53° | 38° |
| July | 93° | 78° | 65° |
| October | 73° | 55° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Shallow Water
The nearest airport, Garden City Regional, is about 32 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 226 miles away.
The best schools in and around Shallow Water
Schools across Shallow Water average a C, better than 29% of towns.
Top middle schools
- Scott City MiddleC · 32% proficient
Top high schools
- Scott City HighD · 23% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Shallow Water school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Shallow Water 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 Shallow Water against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Shallow Water
Is Shallow Water a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Shallow Water ranks 14,381st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a stable housing market, few empty homes, and short commutes, 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 Shallow Water expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $155,400. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $90,677 median income, cost of living beats 84% of towns.
Is Shallow Water safe?
Shallow Water is safer than 33% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $381 per resident a year.
Compare Shallow Water with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Shallow Water. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Shallow Water 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.
Shallow Water detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Shallow Water: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Shallow Water: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Shallow Water: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Shallow Water: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Shallow Water 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.