Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 8,584, settled in 1873. 30% more nonprofits per person than the typical Kansas town.
Trash day: look up yoursChanute gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $96K, 1.7 years of the county’s $57K median household income. It grades C− overall, 129th of 150 graded towns in Kansas. The low prices come with trade-offs. Its crime rate is higher than 86% of U.S. towns, with 31 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025, and the median household income is $51K, and 17% of residents live below the poverty line. 52% of working residents work locally in Chanute, against 15% in Kansas’ towns and 8% across U.S. towns. On health, just 31 of Kansas’ 371 towns do worse. Chanute is home to Neosho County Community College.
Where Chanute beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Kansas), ordered by how far Chanute is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 887 in 1880, 8,722 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1880 and 3 maps from 1951 on.
4 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Chanute, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Chanute.
Chanute is healthier than towns with similar incomes, has homes that are cheap against local pay and has seen reported crime fall by a third or more.
At 1.7 years of the county’s $57K median household income, the typical home (about $96K) costs less against local pay than in 94% of Kansas towns; that ratio is one input to its A for cost of living. 56.1% of renter households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, against 43.5% across Kansas.
Chanute’s median rent is $717 a month. Typical home values rose 4.5% in the year to September 2026.
| Chanute | Kansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $717 a month | $977 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 69% | 72% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its public schools are run by the Chanute Public Schools. Two of its 5 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Chanute High, with 528 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chanute Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 652 | B |
| Chanute HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 528 | C |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within KS on state tests and graduation
Reported crimes fell from 292 to 166 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
The violent crime rate in Chanute is 3.7 per 1,000 residents. Chanute reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 86% report less. The property crime rate in Chanute is 15.9 per 1,000 residents.
| Chanute | Kansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 3.7 per 1,000 residents | 2.5 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 15.9 per 1,000 residents | 10.9 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
3.0 miles of trail in 3 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Katy Park, at 34 acres.
| Chanute | Kansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 5.5% | 2% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.4 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Katy Park | — | 34 |
| 2. Highland Park | — | 9 |
| 3. Central Park | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Against the 6,099 U.S. towns with household incomes like Chanute’s, it is healthier than 52%, so its C− isn’t only a matter of income.
Chanute beats the Kansas average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 13. 18% of Chanute adults smoke cigarettes.
| Chanute | Kansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 15% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 26% | 25% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 37% | 35% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 11% | 12% |
| What stands out | Chanute | KS |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 16.1% | 11.3% |
| More adults with COPD | 9.4% | 6.7% |
| More smokers | 18% | 14% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Chanute has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 90°, January nights drop to 23° and about 10 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The average commute for its 3,465 working residents takes 12.7 minutes, against 19.7 across Kansas.
Among 151 Kansas towns, just 10 have a lower median household income than Chanute. The top destinations are Humboldt (4%), Iola (4%) and Parsons (3%).
| Chanute | Kansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 13 minutes | 20 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $51,000 | $73,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 57% of U.S. communities. Since 1982, 44 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Chanute.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
1 within 15 miles of the center of Chanute
About 7 of every 100 Chanute residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Kansas.
4 places in Chanute on the National Register of Historic Places.
10 notable people were born in Chanute.
City in Neosho County, Kansas, US
Chanute () is a city in Neosho County, Kansas, United States. Founded on January 1, 1873, it was named after railroad engineer and aviation pioneer Octave Chanute. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 8,722. Chanute is home of Neosho County Community College.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Chanute.
| Town | KS rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chanute | #129 | C− | A | D | B− | C− |
| Tioga Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Canville Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Tioga Township and Canville Township aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Chanute with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Chanute grades C− overall, better than 19% of U.S. towns and #129 of 150 in Kansas. It grades C− for health, D for safety and B− for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a D.
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades A.
10 notable people were born here, including Gilbert Baker and Jennifer Knapp.
