Best PlacesSouth Area, Wichita, KS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around South Area, Wichita, 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.
South Area, Wichita ranks 5,082nd of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in South Area, Wichita
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.
South Area, Wichita's strengths and weaknesses
Where South Area, Wichita ranks high
- Cheap childcare$712 a month, better than 94% of neighborhoods
- Short commute18.0 minutes each way, better than 89% of neighborhoods
- State infrastructureBetter than 87% of neighborhoods
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 71% of neighborhoods
- Cell coverageBetter than 71% of neighborhoods
Where South Area, Wichita ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 2% of neighborhoods
- Nice weatherabout 57 pleasant days a year, better than only 3% of neighborhoods
- School gradeD−, better than only 7% of neighborhoods
- Tree shadeBetter than only 9% of neighborhoods
- Health outlookBetter than only 9% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in South Area, Wichita
A household needs to earn about $32,000 a year to comfortably buy the median South Area, Wichita home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $65,729, 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 South Area, Wichita's effective rate of 0.89%, 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 3 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in South Area, Wichita
South Area, Wichita runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for South Area, Wichita.
Who works in South Area, Wichita, and how
Work in South Area, Wichita centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in South Area, Wichita
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across South Area, Wichita.
What the weather is like in South Area, Wichita, month by month
South Area, Wichita sees roughly 57 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 45, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45° | 34° | 25° |
| April | 71° | 58° | 47° |
| July | 93° | 82° | 71° |
| October | 73° | 60° | 50° |
Flying in and out of South Area, Wichita
The nearest airport, Wichita Dwight D Eisenhower Ntl, is about 7 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 183 miles away.
The best schools in and around South Area, Wichita
Schools across South Area, Wichita average a D−, better than 7% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Ruth Clark Elementary K-5B− · 40% proficient
- Enterprise ElemD− · 12% proficient
- White ElemF · 7% proficient
Top middle schools
- Haysville Middle SchoolD− · 15% proficient
- Truesdell Middle SchoolF · 7% proficient
Top high schools
- Campus High HaysvilleD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every South Area, Wichita school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
South Area, Wichita 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 South Area, Wichita against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in South Area, Wichita
Is South Area, Wichita a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, South Area, Wichita ranks 5,082nd of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on affordable childcare, short commutes, and state infrastructure, and lowest on distance from a big city and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is South Area, Wichita expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $122,287. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $65,729 median income, cost of living beats 50% of neighborhoods.
Is South Area, Wichita safe?
South Area, Wichita is safer than 54% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $522 per resident a year.
Compare South Area, Wichita with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to South Area, Wichita. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in South Area, Wichita 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.
South Area, Wichita detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for South Area, Wichita: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in South Area, Wichita: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of South Area, Wichita: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in South Area, Wichita: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
South Area, Wichita 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.