Best PlacesWilson County, KS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Wilson County, 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.
Wilson County ranks 2,557th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Wilson 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.
Wilson County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Wilson County ranks high
- Cheap childcare$467 a month, better than 95% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 94% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 81% of counties
- Short commute20.3 minutes each way, better than 77% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 76% of counties
Where Wilson County ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 4% of counties
- School gradeD+, better than only 12% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 13% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 16% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 16% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Wilson County
A household needs to earn about $31,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Wilson County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $61,306, 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 Wilson County's effective rate of 1.35%, 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 Wilson County
Wilson County 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 Wilson County.
Who works in Wilson County, and how
Work in Wilson County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 93%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Wilson County
Wilson County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Wilson County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Wilson County growing, and who is moving in?
Wilson County has lost about 6% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Neosho County, KS.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Wilson County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Wilson County, month by month
Wilson County 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 Wilson County
The nearest airport, Joplin Regional, is about 72 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 135 miles away.
The best schools in and around Wilson County
Schools across Wilson County average a D+, better than 12% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Heller ElemB · 45% proficient
- Yates Center ElemC+ · 37% proficient
- Thayer SchoolsC · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- Royster Middle SchoolD · 23% proficient
Top high schools
- Neodesha HighD · 18% proficient
- Fredonia Jr./sr. High SchoolD− · 17% proficient
- Altoona-midway Middle/high SchoolD− · 14% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Wilson County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Wilson 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 Wilson County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Wilson County
Is Wilson County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Wilson County ranks 2,557th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on affordable childcare, state infrastructure, and walkability, and lowest on a weak job market and the schools. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Wilson County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $111,450. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $61,306 median income, cost of living beats 46% of counties.
Is Wilson County safe?
Wilson County is safer than 26% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $454 per resident a year.
Compare Wilson County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Wilson County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Wilson 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.
Wilson County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Wilson County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Wilson County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Wilson County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Wilson County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Wilson 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.