Best PlacesAlba, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Alba, 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.
Alba ranks 26,046th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Alba
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.
Alba's strengths and weaknesses
Where Alba ranks high
- Cheap childcare$381 a month, better than 99% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 97% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 83% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 78% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 76% of towns
Where Alba ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 15% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 20% of towns
- Household income$56,878 median, better than only 22% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 24% of towns
- Short commute31.1 minutes each way, better than only 28% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Alba
A household needs to earn about $36,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Alba home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $56,878, 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 Alba's effective rate of 0.61%, 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 Alba
Alba runs younger than the country, though it still carries a larger-than-average share of residents over 65.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Alba.
Who works in Alba, and how
Work in Alba centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Alba
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Alba.
What the weather is like in Alba, month by month
Alba sees roughly 75 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 47, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47° | 35° | 27° |
| April | 71° | 58° | 48° |
| July | 92° | 81° | 71° |
| October | 73° | 61° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Alba
The nearest airport, Joplin Regional, is about 8 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 143 miles away.
The best schools in and around Alba
Schools across Alba average a B−, better than 54% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Pleasant Valley Elem.A · 70% proficient
- Carthage Intermediate CenterC · 33% proficient
- Jasper Co. Elem.C · 32% proficient
Top middle schools
- Webb City Jr. HighB · 47% proficient
Top high schools
- Webb City HighB− · 44% proficient
- Carthage High SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
- Jasper Co. High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Alba school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Alba 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 Alba against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Alba
Is Alba a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Alba ranks 26,046th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, fast internet, and low crime, and lowest on air quality and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Alba expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $141,707. The overall cost of living runs about 22% below the national average. Set against a $56,878 median income, cost of living beats 29% of towns.
Is Alba safe?
Yes, Alba is safer than 83% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $244 per resident a year.
Compare Alba with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Alba. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Alba 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.
Alba detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Alba: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Alba: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Alba: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Alba: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Alba 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.
- 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.