Best PlacesWabaunsee County, KS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Wabaunsee County, 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.
Wabaunsee County ranks 1,438th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Wabaunsee County
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.
Wabaunsee County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Wabaunsee County ranks high
- Cheap childcare$467 a month, better than 95% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 94% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 90% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 77% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 75% of counties
Where Wabaunsee County ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 7% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 12% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 17% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 21% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Wabaunsee County
A household needs to earn about $49,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Wabaunsee County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $77,851, 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 Wabaunsee County's effective rate of 1.06%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Wabaunsee County
Wabaunsee County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Wabaunsee County.
Who works in Wabaunsee County, and how
Work in Wabaunsee County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Wabaunsee County
Wabaunsee County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Wabaunsee County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Wabaunsee County growing, and who is moving in?
Wabaunsee County has grown about 2% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Manhattan, KS.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Wabaunsee County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Wabaunsee County, month by month
Wabaunsee County sees roughly 108 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 42, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42° | 30° | 21° |
| April | 71° | 56° | 44° |
| July | 91° | 79° | 68° |
| October | 72° | 57° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Wabaunsee County
The nearest airport, Manhattan Regional, is about 28 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 81 miles away.
The best schools in and around Wabaunsee County
Schools across Wabaunsee County average a C+, better than 52% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Prairie Heights Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Maple Hill ElemA− · 60% proficient
- West ElemA− · 59% proficient
Top middle schools
- Wabaunsee Junior HighB · 43% proficient
- Dwight D Eisenhower Middle SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Wamego Middle SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Manhattan High School West/east CampusC+ · 39% proficient
- Council Grove Junior Senior High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
- St. Marys Junior Senior HighC · 32% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Wabaunsee County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Wabaunsee County 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 Wabaunsee County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Wabaunsee County
Is Wabaunsee County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Wabaunsee County ranks 1,438th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on affordable childcare, state infrastructure, and health care access, and lowest on internet speeds and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Wabaunsee County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $180,228. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $77,851 median income, cost of living beats 75% of counties.
Is Wabaunsee County safe?
Yes, Wabaunsee County is safer than 71% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $302 per resident a year.
Compare Wabaunsee County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Wabaunsee County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Wabaunsee County 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.
Wabaunsee County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Wabaunsee County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Wabaunsee County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Wabaunsee County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Wabaunsee County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Wabaunsee County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.