Best PlacesAudrain County, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Audrain County, 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.
Audrain County ranks 2,299th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Audrain County
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.
Audrain County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Audrain County ranks high
- Cheap childcare$399 a month, better than 98% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 86% of counties
- Short commute21.7 minutes each way, better than 68% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 65% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 62% of counties
Where Audrain County ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 2% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 20% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than only 22% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 22% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 25% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Audrain County
A household needs to earn about $37,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Audrain County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $64,032, 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 Audrain County's effective rate of 0.73%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Audrain County
Audrain County's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Audrain County.
Who works in Audrain County, and how
Work in Audrain County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Audrain County
Audrain County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and more parkland per resident than 94% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Audrain County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Audrain County growing, and who is moving in?
Audrain County has lost about 6% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Columbia, MO.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Audrain County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Audrain County, month by month
Audrain County sees roughly 73 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 37, with lows near 22. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37° | 29° | 22° |
| April | 65° | 52° | 43° |
| July | 86° | 76° | 67° |
| October | 68° | 56° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Audrain County
The nearest airport, Columbia Regional, is about 34 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 84 miles away.
The best schools in and around Audrain County
Schools across Audrain County average a C, better than 38% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Community Elem.B · 50% proficient
- Centralia IntermediateB · 45% proficient
- Middle Grove Elem.B− · 42% proficient
Top middle schools
- Hallsville MiddleB− · 42% proficient
- Chester Boren MiddleB− · 41% proficient
- Mexico MiddleC · 34% proficient
Top high schools
- Centralia HighB · 50% proficient
- Paris HighC+ · 37% proficient
- North Callaway HighC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Audrain County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Audrain County 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 Audrain County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Audrain County suits
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Audrain County
Is Audrain County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Audrain County ranks 2,299th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on affordable childcare, low disaster risk, and short commutes, and lowest on air quality and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Audrain County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $143,548. The overall cost of living runs about 23% below the national average. Set against a $64,032 median income, cost of living beats 55% of counties.
Is Audrain County safe?
Audrain County is safer than 25% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $519 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Audrain County?
July highs average about 86 degrees, and January highs near 37 with lows near 22. That works out to about 73 pleasant days a year, more than 27% of counties.
Is Audrain County good for families?
Schools beat 38% of counties, crime safety beats 25%, and childcare runs $399 a month.
Compare Audrain County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Audrain County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Audrain County 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.
Audrain County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Audrain County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Audrain County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Audrain County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Audrain County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Audrain County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.