Best PlacesWard Parkway, Kansas City, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Ward Parkway, Kansas City, 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.
Ward Parkway, Kansas City ranks 1,853rd of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and the schools rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Ward Parkway, Kansas City
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.
Ward Parkway, Kansas City's strengths and weaknesses
Where Ward Parkway, Kansas City ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 95% of neighborhoods
- Internet speedBetter than 95% of neighborhoods
- Healthcare accessBetter than 92% of neighborhoods
- Voter turnoutBetter than 90% of neighborhoods
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 89% of neighborhoods
Where Ward Parkway, Kansas City ranks low
- School gradeD, better than only 11% of neighborhoods
- Big-city accessBetter than only 21% of neighborhoods
- Low property taxBetter than only 29% of neighborhoods
- BikingBetter than only 30% of neighborhoods
- Local economyBetter than only 32% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Ward Parkway, Kansas City
A household needs to earn about $98,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ward Parkway, Kansas City home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $109,854, 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 Ward Parkway, Kansas City's effective rate of 1.19%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Ward Parkway, Kansas City
Ward Parkway, Kansas City 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 Ward Parkway, Kansas City.
Who works in Ward Parkway, Kansas City, and how
Work in Ward Parkway, Kansas City centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 72%
- Work from home 24%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Ward Parkway, Kansas City
Ward Parkway, Kansas City has more restaurants and bars per resident than 97% of neighborhoods. That concentrates in some parts of Ward Parkway, Kansas City and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Ward Parkway, Kansas City, month by month
Ward Parkway, Kansas City sees roughly 109 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41° | 31° | 24° |
| April | 69° | 57° | 47° |
| July | 91° | 81° | 72° |
| October | 71° | 59° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Ward Parkway, Kansas City
Kansas City International sits about 22 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 5.7 million passengers in 2025, with 104 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Ward Parkway, Kansas City
Schools across Ward Parkway, Kansas City average a D, better than 11% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Hale Cook ElementaryB− · 42% proficient
Top middle schools
- Central Middle SchoolF · 4% proficient
Top high schools
- Southeast High SchoolF · 5% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Ward Parkway, Kansas City school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ward Parkway, Kansas City 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 Ward Parkway, Kansas City against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Ward Parkway, Kansas City
Is Ward Parkway, Kansas City a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ward Parkway, Kansas City ranks 1,853rd of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on a stable housing market, fast internet, and health care access, and lowest on the schools 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 Ward Parkway, Kansas City expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $355,058. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $109,854 median income, cost of living beats 89% of neighborhoods.
Is Ward Parkway, Kansas City safe?
Ward Parkway, Kansas City is safer than 32% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $635 per resident a year.
Compare Ward Parkway, Kansas City with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ward Parkway, Kansas City. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ward Parkway, Kansas City 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.
Ward Parkway, Kansas City detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ward Parkway, Kansas City: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ward Parkway, Kansas City: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ward Parkway, Kansas City: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ward Parkway, Kansas City: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ward Parkway, Kansas City 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.