Best PlacesBarnesville, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Barnesville, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Barnesville ranks 39,186th 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 Barnesville
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.
Barnesville's strengths and weaknesses
Where Barnesville ranks high
- Cheap childcare$412 a month, better than 98% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 94% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 73% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 67% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 61% of towns
Where Barnesville ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 8% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 8% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 14% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 18% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Barnesville
A household needs to earn about $45,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Barnesville home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $63,900, 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 Barnesville's effective rate of 0.69%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Barnesville
Barnesville runs younger than the country, though it still carries a larger-than-average share of residents over 65, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Barnesville.
Who works in Barnesville, and how
Work in Barnesville centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 70%
- Work from home 26%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Barnesville
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Barnesville.
What the weather is like in Barnesville, month by month
Barnesville sees roughly 78 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 26° | 19° |
| April | 65° | 52° | 41° |
| July | 87° | 76° | 66° |
| October | 68° | 55° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Barnesville
The nearest airport, Kirksville Regional, is about 14 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 121 miles away.
The best schools in and around Barnesville
Schools across Barnesville average a B−, better than 57% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Atlanta Elem.A · 65% proficient
- Bevier Elem.C− · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Atlanta HighC+ · 38% proficient
- Bevier HighC · 32% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Barnesville school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Barnesville 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 Barnesville against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Barnesville
Is Barnesville a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Barnesville ranks 39,186th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, a strong job market, and state finances, and lowest on biking and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Barnesville expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $175,369. The overall cost of living runs about 22% below the national average. Set against a $63,900 median income, cost of living beats 43% of towns.
Is Barnesville safe?
Barnesville is safer than 26% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $478 per resident a year.
Compare Barnesville with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Barnesville. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Barnesville 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.
Barnesville detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Barnesville: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Barnesville: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Barnesville: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Barnesville: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Barnesville 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.