The 10 Best Wichita Suburbs To Live In For 2024


The best Wichita suburbs are Andover and Bel Aire for 2024 based on Saturday Night Science.

While big cities like Wichita offer culture, cuisine, and charisma, they also deliver terrible traffic, towering expenses, and a taxing quality of life.

With that in mind, we wanted to uncover the best suburbs around Wichita. These burbs have all of the benefits of being near Wichita without actually having to be in the city.

Of course, not all suburbs of Wichita are created equally, which is precisely why we set out to find the best ones. Using Saturday Night Science, we delve into the factors that matter most, from commutes and housing costs to community vibes, to help you uncover the perfect suburban spots in the Greater Wichita area.


Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table


What’s the best suburb of Wichita? Andover ranks as the best suburb of Wichita for 2024 based on the most recent Census and FBI data. If you happen to be a resident of Andover, you’re probably not too surprised to find it on the top our list.

We’ll tell you what makes each of these 10 Wichita ‘burbs better than the rest–but first, a bit about our methodology.

Feel free to check out some more reading about Kansas:

The 10 Best Wichita Suburbs To Live For 2024

Andover, KS

Source: Flickr User LauraGilchrist4 | CC BY 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

7.5
/10

Population: 15,460
Median Income: $113,538
Unemployment Rate: 1.4%
Poverty Rate: 2.5%
More on Andover: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Andover is always mentioned as one of the best suburbs in the Wichita area. We’ll tell you the good about “Awesome Andover.”

Everyone here is rich; families average $113,538 a year, which is the highest in the Wichita region. And only 1.41% are out of work. Homes average more than $302,362 each.

Review Of Andover by HomeSnacks User

We moved to Andover 14 years ago because of this kind of hype. Then my grandkids were diagnosed with adhd and autism. Andover schools are great for most kids, but if your child has special needs expect that child to be bullied… by teachers and counselors. The six years it took for the school to admit they didn’t have a clue how to help my autistic granddaughter were a nightmare for us

Four years later with a great teacher in Douglas she still has great anxiety. The grandchild with adhd finally took matters into her own hands and asked to change to online school. I think that’s the only thing reason she was able to graduate.

Overall SnackAbility

7.5
/10

Population: 8,341
Median Income: $91,979
Unemployment Rate: 2.3%
Poverty Rate: 9.6%
More on Bel Aire: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Bel Aire is the second best ‘burb we looked at near Wichita for 2024.

It ranks 4th for incomes in the area and only 3.29% of residents lack insurance, good for 3rd best.

3. Kechi, KS

Overall SnackAbility

9
/10

Population: 2,949
Median Income: $103,625
Unemployment Rate: 1.3%
Poverty Rate: 1.4%
More on Kechi: Crime | Real Estate

Here in Kechi, it’s really safe, and residents are just about as rich as you’ll see in the Wichita metro area.

The bad side? Schools are more crowded, and the cost of living puts a large part of the city out of reach for most families.

But price is based on demand and a lot of people want to live in Kechi.

Goddard, KS

Source: Wikipedia User Funplussmart | CC BY-SA 4.0
Overall SnackAbility

9
/10

Population: 5,119
Median Income: $87,385
Unemployment Rate: 3.6%
Poverty Rate: 1.2%
More on Goddard: Data | Crime | Real Estate

Goddard ranks as the 4th best suburb of Wichita for 2024.

You won’t find many better places to raise your kids in the region than in Goddard and the schools are some of the best around.

Rose Hill, KS

Source: Wikipedia User Art davis | CC BY-SA 4.0
Overall SnackAbility

9
/10

Population: 4,357
Median Income: $90,962
Unemployment Rate: 4.1%
Poverty Rate: 1.1%
More on Rose Hill: Data | Crime | Real Estate

Coming in as the fifth best is Rose Hill.

Rose Hill gets kudos for having the 8th most expensive homes in the Wichita area, where houses sell for an average of $251,001. However, the cost of living here is among the highest in the area.

6. North Newton, KS

North Newton, KS

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

9
/10

Population: 2,105
Median Income: $95,221
Unemployment Rate: 7.8%
Poverty Rate: 3.6%
More on North Newton: Real Estate

North Newton is proud of its 6th place finish on this list. And here’s why.

Most residents have great jobs and the unemployment rate sits at 7.79%.

According to online reports, North Newton is quickly becoming one of the more affluent suburbs in the Wichita area, meaning you need to get in soon.

Derby, KS

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

8.5
/10

Population: 25,551
Median Income: $79,581
Unemployment Rate: 4.0%
Poverty Rate: 6.8%
More on Derby: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

The 7th best suburb on our list goes to Derby.

Derby schools are some of the best in the region, and crime is really low. The cost of living makes it a lot more desirable for many families, especially first-time home buyers.

And, it’s only 10.2 miles to downtown, which is a good thing.

Augusta, KS

Source: Wikipedia User MadameGraffigny | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 9,253
Median Income: $59,536
Unemployment Rate: 3.2%
Poverty Rate: 11.0%
More on Augusta: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Augusta is growing quickly, and for a good reason. Crime is far below average, and most residents are gainfully employed. Even the cost of living is reasonable.

A solid 4.18% of people lack insurance, good for 5th in the area.

Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 6,071
Median Income: $88,075
Unemployment Rate: 4.8%
Poverty Rate: 12.1%
More on Maize: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Is ‘Everything Better In Maize?’

Almost.

It placed 9th on our list thanks to the fact that it’s really expensive to live here, but the schools are great, so you get what you pay for in that regard.

10. Cheney, KS

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 2,380
Median Income: $70,598
Unemployment Rate: 2.5%
Poverty Rate: 11.0%
More on Cheney: Crime | Real Estate

And rounding out the top ten for 2024 is Cheney.

This city is far above average in every category, and the best part? It’s far more affordable than the other cities listed above. So, you get a big bang for your buck here.

Methodology: How We Determined The Best Suburbs Around Wichita for 2024

Figuring out the best suburbs around Wichita was simple. We used Saturday Night Science to find things people like about living in the suburbs and then locate the suburbs with those things.

We analyzed the newest American Community Survey data for 2018-2022 to research each suburb. We decided upon the following criteria:

  • Low unemployment rate
  • High median household incomes
  • Population density (lots of things to do)
  • High home values
  • A lot of college-educated people
  • Low poverty
  • High rate of insured families

We defined a suburb as being within 30 miles of Wichita.

Additionally, we limited the analysis to places that have over 2,000 people. This left us with a grand total of 18 suburbs to evaluate around Wichita.

We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 18 in each category, where 1 was the “best.

Next, we averaged the rankings for each place to create a quality-of-life index.

Finally, we crowned the city with the best quality of life index, the “Best Suburb near Wichita.” We’re lookin’ at you, Andover.

This result may differ from our state-wide data as we did not include commute times and crime for this analysis to allow for a more extensive selection of suburbs.

We updated the data for 2024. This report is our tenth time ranking the best Wichita suburbs. Skip to the end to see the list of all the suburbs ranked from best to worst.

Summary: Welcome to the Best Wichita ‘Burbs of 2024

We said it once, and we’ll say it again–life in the big city isn’t for everyone. At least not all the time.

The best suburbs of Wichita are .

So if you’re craving the amenities of a larger city like Wichita but don’t want to deal with the drawbacks, one of these suburbs might be for you.

For more Kansas reading, check out:

Table: Best Wichita Suburbs

Rank City Population Median Income Average Home Price
1 Andover, KS 15,460 $113,538 $302,362
2 Bel Aire, KS 8,341 $91,979 $258,410
3 Kechi, KS 2,949 $103,625 $276,467
4 Goddard, KS 5,119 $87,385 $282,347
5 Rose Hill, KS 4,357 $90,962 $251,001
6 North Newton, KS 2,105 $95,221 $219,248
7 Derby, KS 25,551 $79,581 $258,532
8 Augusta, KS 9,253 $59,536 $195,681
9 Maize, KS 6,071 $88,075 $277,240
10 Cheney, KS 2,380 $70,598 $244,838
11 Clearwater, KS 2,544 $78,472 $253,435
12 Mulvane, KS 6,003 $67,766 $215,120
13 Valley Center, KS 8,448 $70,531 $235,417
14 Haysville, KS 10,891 $66,382 $189,870
15 Halstead, KS 2,243 $54,394 $176,882
16 El Dorado, KS 12,882 $52,921 $145,347
17 Newton, KS 18,527 $66,528 $152,576
18 Wellington, KS 7,710 $48,333 $96,412
About Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.