Downs Missouri Pacific Depot · Photo: Ammodramus · CC0Renting in Downs: a two-bedroom costs about $880
Downs is too small for a cost of living grade (TownRatings grades places of 1,000 or more).
Only 0 sales in March 2026: in a market this size, monthly medians swing a lot, so the typical value is the steadier guide.
Housing in Downs, in brief
Owning can cost less than renting
With 20% down at the calculator’s rate, the typical Downs home runs about $640 a month with tax and insurance. A two-bedroom rents for about $880. Can I afford it? ↓
Slipping while Kansas rises
Over the past year the typical Downs home lost 2.6%, while the Kansas typical home gained 3.5%. Price trend ↓
Written from the data on this page. Home values are the Zillow Home Value Index, through September 2026; permits are Census figures through 2025; incomes, rents paid, taxes and ownership come from the Census American Community Survey, which has wide margins in a place this size.
Why Downs isn’t graded
The grade needs at least two of four Census figures: home value, rent, property tax and the share of households paying 30% or more for housing.
A two-bedroom rents for about $880
Renters already here pay a median of $582, so moving in tends to cost more than staying put.
Fair Market Rent a month, utilities included
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Fair Market Rents by ZIP code (Osborne County, KS): the 40th-percentile rent plus utilities for a standard unit. Median rent and renters: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey.
Low tax bills, but a high tax rate
The median bill is $1,606, under the Kansas median of $2,798, because homes cost less. As a share of value it’s 1.56% a year, against 1.29% statewide.
Census American Community Survey 2020–24: the median real-estate tax bill homeowners report, and that bill ÷ the median home value. Bills include town, school and county taxes. The Census reports bills over $10,000 only as “$10,000+”.
Downs and its neighbors
One source per column.
Cost next door · one source per column
| Town | Cost | Typical home Zillow, September 2026 | Median value Census 2020–24 | Tax rate bill ÷ value | 2-bed rent HUD 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Downs | – | $98K | $103K | 1.56% | $880 |
“—” under Cost: not graded (too little Census data, or under 1,000 residents).
Questions about the cost of living in Downs
How much is rent in Downs?
HUD puts a two-bedroom at about $880 a month with utilities, the going rate for someone moving in. Renters already here pay a median of $582 (Census 2020–24).
What are property taxes in Downs?
The median bill is $1,606 a year, 1.56% of the median home value (Kansas: $2,798, 1.29%), from the Census 2020–24.
Why doesn’t Downs have a cost of living grade?
Downs is too small for a cost of living grade (TownRatings grades places of 1,000 or more).
Neighbors talk housing
What Downs buyers, sellers and renters are saying.
Home values: Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI), Zillow Research, September 2026. Sales, days on market and supply: Redfin Data Center, March 2026. Income, ownership, taxes and rent: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey. New homes: U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey. Fair Market Rents: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The calculator is an estimate, not a loan offer. Regional price levels: BEA; electricity: EIA. How TownRatings grades cost of living.