Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 2,646, settled in 1879.
Hillsboro gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $160K, 2.5 years of the county’s $65K median household income. It grades A overall, 15th of 150 graded towns in Kansas. On the plus side, its public schools beat 76% of Kansas towns on state tests and graduation. 37% of working residents work locally in Hillsboro, above both the Kansas town median (15%) and the median of U.S. towns (8%). On walkability, just 25 of Kansas’ 372 towns do better. Hillsboro is home to Tabor College.
Where Hillsboro beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Kansas), ordered by how far Hillsboro is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 133 in 1880, 2,732 in 2020. The archive holds 11 old photos and papers going back to 2004 and 4 maps from 1889 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Hillsboro, 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 Hillsboro.
Hillsboro pairs an A overall with homes cheaper than the Kansas norm, pairs an A− for schools with modest home prices and is shaped by its college students.
Hillsboro grades A overall with a typical home of about $160K, below the Kansas typical value; only 5 of the 25 Kansas towns graded A− or better can say that.
Typical home values rose 7.7% in the year to September 2026. Hillsboro’s median rent is $763 a month.
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its A− for schools comes with an A for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $160K.
Its public schools are run by the Durham-Hillsboro-Lehigh school district. Its two schools are below. The largest public high school is Hillsboro Middle/High School, with 310 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hillsboro ElemLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 286 | A |
| Hillsboro Middle/High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 6–12 | Grades 6–12 | 310 | B+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within KS on state tests and graduation
21.8% of residents are enrolled in college, against 6.6% statewide, which pulls the median age down.
Adults 18 to 34 are 33% of residents (23% statewide); adults 35 to 64 are 29% of residents (36% statewide). The median age in Hillsboro is 30.4 years. Hillsboro has lost 3.2% of its people since 2020, down to 2,646 in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| Hillsboro | Kansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 30.4 years | 38.2 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 20% | 24% | 22% |
50% women, 50% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±2.9 points. Across Kansas, 49.8% of residents are women.
| Hillsboro | KS | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 12.9% | 12.5% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 7.5% | 11.3% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 22.4% | 10.2% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 10.3% | 12.9% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.2% | 12.9% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 7% | 11.2% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 10.2% | 12.2% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 9.4% | 10.1% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 8% | 6.9% | 7% |
| No diploma | 6.6% | 8% | 10.4% |
| High school | 24.1% | 25.4% | 26% |
| Some college | 26.1% | 21.8% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 6% | 9.1% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 24.6% | 22.2% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 12.6% | 13.4% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 2,600, single groups can be off by several points
Against the 9,642 U.S. towns with household incomes like Hillsboro’s, it is healthier than 89%, so its B+ isn’t only a matter of income.
Hillsboro beats the Kansas average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 0. 31% of adults sleep under 7 hours in Hillsboro.
| Hillsboro | Kansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 35% | 36% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 13% | 14% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 10% | 11% | 12% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 22% | 23% |
| What stands out | Hillsboro | KS |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 9.1% | 11.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Hillsboro has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 92°, January nights drop to 21° and about 12 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The average commute for its 1,188 working residents takes 13.5 minutes, against 19.7 across Kansas.
About one in 3 of Hillsboro’s working residents works in town. Since 2013, Hillsboro has added 149 jobs, to 1,352 in 2023. The top destinations are Wichita (8%), Newton (4%) and McPherson (4%).
| Hillsboro | Kansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 14 minutes | 20 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $63,000 | $73,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
| Hillsboro | Kansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 7.4% | 2% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Marion County Fair Grounds | — | 18 |
| 2. Memorial Park | — | 8 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 55% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
At 16.9 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 75% of Kansas’s graded towns. Violent crime is rare: 3 reported in 2025, 1.1 per 1,000 residents.
Among 80 Kansas towns, just 6 have a lower property crime rate than Hillsboro.
| Hillsboro | Kansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 3.4 per 1,000 residents | 11.1 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.1 per 1,000 residents | 2.5 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
1 within 15 miles of the center of Hillsboro
College town 22 of every 100 Hillsboro residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across Kansas.
3 places in Hillsboro on the National Register of Historic Places.
4 notable people were born in Hillsboro.
City in Marion County, Kansas
Hillsboro is a city in Marion County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 2,732. The city was named after John Hill, who homesteaded in the area in 1871. The city has a significant student population, because it is home of Tabor College.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Hillsboro.
| Town | KS rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hillsboro | #15 | A | A | B− | A− | B+ |
| Risley Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Liberty Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Risley Township and Liberty Township aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Hillsboro with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Hillsboro grades A overall, better than 86% of U.S. towns and #15 of 150 in Kansas. It grades B+ for health, B− for safety and A− for schools.
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.
4 notable people were born here, including E. T. Klassen and Donald Dahl.
