Best PlacesAustin, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Austin, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Austin ranks 9,524th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and biking ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Austin
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.
Austin's strengths and weaknesses
Where Austin ranks high
- Cheap childcare$389 a month, better than 99% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 95% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 94% of towns
- Household income$118,574 median, better than 93% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 90% of towns
Where Austin ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 8% of towns
- Short commute34.5 minutes each way, better than only 15% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 24% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 28% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Austin
A household needs to earn about $96,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Austin home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $118,574, 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 Austin's effective rate of 0.60%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Austin
Austin runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Austin.
Who works in Austin, and how
Work in Austin centers on construction and hospitality & food. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Austin
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Austin.
What the weather is like in Austin, month by month
Austin sees roughly 91 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 32° | 25° |
| April | 70° | 56° | 46° |
| July | 91° | 79° | 69° |
| October | 71° | 58° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Austin
Kansas City International sits about 59 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 5.7 million passengers in 2025, with 104 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Austin
Schools across Austin average a B−, better than 53% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Cass Co. Elem.B− · 42% proficient
- Ballard Elem.C+ · 39% proficient
- Butler Elem.C · 32% proficient
Top middle schools
- Sherwood MiddleC+ · 38% proficient
Top high schools
- Sherwood HighB− · 43% proficient
- Butler HighC · 31% proficient
- Ballard HighD · 21% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Austin school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Austin 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 Austin against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Austin
Is Austin a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Austin ranks 9,524th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, what local pay buys, and few empty homes, and lowest on biking and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Austin expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $376,389. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $118,574 median income, cost of living beats 95% of towns.
Is Austin safe?
Yes, Austin is safer than 63% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $282 per resident a year.
Compare Austin with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Austin. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Austin 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.
Austin detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Austin: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Austin: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Austin: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Austin: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Austin 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.