Best PlacesWelda, KS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Welda, 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.
Welda ranks 43,982nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Welda
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.
Welda's strengths and weaknesses
Where Welda ranks high
- Cheap childcare$467 a month, better than 96% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 95% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 71% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 101 pleasant days a year, better than 69% of towns
- BikingBetter than 64% of towns
Where Welda ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 12% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 14% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 16% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 21% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Welda
A household needs to earn about $44,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Welda home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $63,072, 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 Welda's effective rate of 1.34%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Welda
Welda's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Welda.
Who works in Welda, and how
Work in Welda centers on construction and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 76%
- Work from home 23%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Welda
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Welda.
What the weather is like in Welda, month by month
Welda sees roughly 101 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 46, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 46° | 34° | 26° |
| April | 72° | 58° | 47° |
| July | 93° | 81° | 71° |
| October | 74° | 60° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Welda
The nearest airport, Joplin Regional, is about 83 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 84 miles away.
The best schools in and around Welda
Schools across Welda average a C−, better than 25% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Garnett Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Crest ElementaryD+ · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- Anderson County Jr/sr High SchoolC · 31% proficient
- Crest HighD− · 15% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Welda school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Welda 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 Welda against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Welda
Is Welda a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Welda ranks 43,982nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, state infrastructure, and cell coverage, and lowest on tree cover and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Welda expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $158,344. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $63,072 median income, cost of living beats 23% of towns.
Is Welda safe?
Welda is safer than 29% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $400 per resident a year.
Compare Welda with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Welda. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Welda 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.
Welda detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Welda: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Welda: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Welda: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Welda: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Welda 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.