Best PlacesUtica, KS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Utica, 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.
Utica ranks 35,410th 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 Utica
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.
Utica's strengths and weaknesses
Where Utica ranks high
- Short commute15.9 minutes each way, better than 96% of towns
- Cheap childcare$467 a month, better than 96% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 95% of towns
- QuietBetter than 86% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 84% of towns
Where Utica ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 2% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 5% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Utica
A household needs to earn about $22,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Utica home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $66,857, 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 Utica's effective rate of 1.50%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Utica
Utica runs older than the country, 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 Utica.
Who works in Utica, and how
Work in Utica centers on agriculture & forestry and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in Utica
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Utica.
What the weather is like in Utica, month by month
Utica sees roughly 123 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 45, with lows near 17. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45° | 28° | 17° |
| April | 71° | 52° | 37° |
| July | 94° | 78° | 65° |
| October | 73° | 54° | 39° |
Flying in and out of Utica
The nearest airport, Hays Regional, is about 51 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 254 miles away.
The best schools in and around Utica
Schools across Utica average a D+, better than 12% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Dighton ElemB− · 40% proficient
- Trego Grade SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Ness City ElemC · 32% proficient
Top high schools
- Quinter Jr-sr HighC− · 28% proficient
- Western Plains HighD+ · 25% proficient
- Dighton HighD+ · 24% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Utica school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Utica 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 Utica against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Utica
Is Utica a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Utica ranks 35,410th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on short commutes, affordable childcare, and state infrastructure, 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 Utica expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $77,468. The overall cost of living runs about 23% below the national average. Set against a $66,857 median income, cost of living beats 67% of towns.
Is Utica safe?
Utica is safer than 10% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $597 per resident a year.
Compare Utica with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Utica. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Utica 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.
Utica detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Utica: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Utica: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Utica: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Utica: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Utica 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.