Best PlacesAppleton City, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Appleton City, 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.
Appleton City ranks 35,940th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Appleton City
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.
Appleton City's strengths and weaknesses
Where Appleton City ranks high
- Cheap childcare$354 a month, better than 99% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 96% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 92% of towns
- BikingBetter than 83% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 80% of towns
Where Appleton City ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 56 pleasant days a year, better than only 3% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 10% of towns
- Household income$49,866 median, better than only 12% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 16% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 18% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Appleton City
A household needs to earn about $29,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Appleton City home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $49,866, 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 Appleton City's effective rate of 0.76%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Appleton City
Appleton City runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Appleton City.
Who works in Appleton City, and how
Work in Appleton City centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Appleton City
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Appleton City.
What the weather is like in Appleton City, month by month
Appleton City sees roughly 56 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 42, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42° | 32° | 24° |
| April | 68° | 56° | 45° |
| July | 89° | 78° | 69° |
| October | 71° | 58° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Appleton City
The nearest airport, Springfield-Branson Ntl, is about 73 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 86 miles away.
The best schools in and around Appleton City
Schools across Appleton City average a C+, better than 46% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Hudson Elem.A · 65% proficient
- Lakeland Elem.C · 33% proficient
- Montrose Elem.C− · 28% proficient
Top high schools
- Montrose HighB+ · 58% proficient
- Rich Hill HighB− · 43% proficient
- Appleton City HighC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Appleton City school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Appleton City 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 Appleton City against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Appleton City
Is Appleton City a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Appleton City ranks 35,940th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, walkability, and civic engagement, and lowest on the weather and health outcomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Appleton City expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $112,330. The overall cost of living runs about 26% below the national average. Set against a $49,866 median income, cost of living beats 26% of towns.
Is Appleton City safe?
Appleton City is safer than 22% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $500 per resident a year.
Compare Appleton City with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Appleton City. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Appleton City 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.
Appleton City detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Appleton City: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Appleton City: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Appleton City: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Appleton City: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Appleton City 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.