Best PlacesSouthwest, Wichita, KS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Southwest, Wichita, 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.
Southwest, Wichita ranks 4,615th 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 Southwest, 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.
Southwest, Wichita's strengths and weaknesses
Where Southwest, Wichita ranks high
- Cheap childcare$712 a month, better than 94% of neighborhoods
- Cell coverageBetter than 91% of neighborhoods
- State infrastructureBetter than 87% of neighborhoods
- Short commute19.3 minutes each way, better than 83% of neighborhoods
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 71% of neighborhoods
Where Southwest, Wichita ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 2% of neighborhoods
- School gradeD−, better than only 7% of neighborhoods
- Tree shadeBetter than only 18% of neighborhoods
- Air qualityBetter than only 20% of neighborhoods
- Low vacancyBetter than only 21% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Southwest, Wichita
A household needs to earn about $33,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Southwest, Wichita home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $60,002, 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 Southwest, Wichita's effective rate of 1.29%, 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 Southwest, Wichita
Southwest, Wichita'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 Southwest, Wichita.
Who works in Southwest, Wichita, and how
Work in Southwest, Wichita centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Southwest, Wichita
Southwest, Wichita has more parkland per resident than 86% of neighborhoods. That concentrates in some parts of Southwest, Wichita and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Southwest, Wichita, month by month
Southwest, Wichita sees roughly 99 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 95 degrees. January highs sit near 47, with lows near 22. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47° | 33° | 22° |
| April | 73° | 57° | 44° |
| July | 95° | 82° | 69° |
| October | 76° | 60° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Southwest, Wichita
The nearest airport, Wichita Dwight D Eisenhower Ntl, is about 4 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 Southwest, Wichita
Schools across Southwest, Wichita average a D−, better than 7% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Stanley ElemD− · 15% proficient
- Woodman ElemD− · 13% proficient
- Enders Stem And Leadership MagnetD− · 12% proficient
Top middle schools
- Truesdell Middle SchoolF · 7% proficient
- Hamilton Middle SchoolF · 6% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Southwest, Wichita school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Southwest, 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 Southwest, Wichita against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Southwest, Wichita
Is Southwest, Wichita a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Southwest, Wichita ranks 4,615th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on affordable childcare, cell coverage, and state infrastructure, and lowest on distance from a big city and the schools. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Southwest, Wichita expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $118,706. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $60,002 median income, cost of living beats 44% of neighborhoods.
Is Southwest, Wichita safe?
Southwest, Wichita is safer than 28% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $660 per resident a year.
Compare Southwest, Wichita with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Southwest, Wichita. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Southwest, 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.
Southwest, Wichita detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Southwest, Wichita: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Southwest, Wichita: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Southwest, Wichita: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Southwest, Wichita: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Southwest, 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.