Best PlacesSt. Marks, KS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around St. Marks, 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.
St. Marks ranks 8,437th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on few empty homes by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in St. Marks
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.
St. Marks' strengths and weaknesses
Where St. Marks ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 95% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 92% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 92% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 91% of towns
Where St. Marks ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 2% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 9% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 22% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 23% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in St. Marks
A household needs to earn about $85,000 a year to comfortably buy the median St. Marks home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $84,318; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 St. Marks' effective rate of 1.11%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in St. Marks
St. Marks's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 St. Marks.
Who works in St. Marks, and how
Work in St. Marks centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in St. Marks
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across St. Marks.
What the weather is like in St. Marks, month by month
St. Marks sees roughly 101 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 St. Marks
The nearest airport, Wichita Dwight D Eisenhower Ntl, is about 10 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 189 miles away.
The best schools in and around St. Marks
Schools across St. Marks average a B−, better than 58% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- St. Marks SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Garden Plain ElemB− · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- Garden Plain HighC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every St. Marks school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
St. Marks 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 St. Marks against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in St. Marks
Is St. Marks a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, St. Marks ranks 8,437th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on few empty homes, state infrastructure, and low crime, 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 St. Marks expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $310,774. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $84,318 median income, cost of living beats 76% of towns.
Is St. Marks safe?
Yes, St. Marks is safer than 92% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $183 per resident a year.
Compare St. Marks with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to St. Marks. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in St. Marks 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.
St. Marks detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for St. Marks: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in St. Marks: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of St. Marks: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in St. Marks: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
St. Marks 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.