Best PlacesBelton, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Belton, 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.
Belton ranks 1,350th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and biking ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Belton
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.
Belton's strengths and weaknesses
Where Belton ranks high
- Cheap childcare$388 a month, better than 99% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than 89% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than 80% of cities
- Local economyBetter than 77% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 73% of cities
Where Belton ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 6% of cities
- TransitBetter than only 13% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than only 15% of cities
- Health outlookBetter than only 20% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than only 22% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Belton
A household needs to earn about $59,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Belton home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $74,088, 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 Belton's effective rate of 0.85%, 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 Belton
Belton's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Belton.
Who works in Belton, and how
Work in Belton centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Belton
Belton has more restaurants and bars per resident than 90% of cities and more parkland per resident than 82% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Belton and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Belton, month by month
Belton sees roughly 95 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 40, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40° | 30° | 23° |
| April | 68° | 55° | 45° |
| July | 89° | 79° | 70° |
| October | 70° | 58° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Belton
Kansas City International sits about 35 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 Belton
Schools across Belton average a C+, better than 38% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Creekmoor Elem.A− · 57% proficient
- Wilckens Steam Acad @hillcrestB · 47% proficient
- Eagle Glen ElementaryB− · 43% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mill Creek Upper Elem.C · 31% proficient
- Belton Middle SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- Raymore-peculiar Sr. HighB− · 43% proficient
- Belton HighC+ · 38% proficient
- Grandview Sr. HighC− · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Belton school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Belton 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 Belton against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Belton suits
Families
Schools land around the 38th percentile and crime safety beats 73%.
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 13% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 57% of cities and health care access beats 59%.
Common questions about living in Belton
Is Belton a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Belton ranks 1,350th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on affordable childcare, fast internet, and state finances, and lowest on biking and transit. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Belton expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $225,602. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $74,088 median income, cost of living beats 40% of cities.
Is Belton safe?
Yes, Belton is safer than 73% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $328 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Belton?
July highs average about 89 degrees, and January highs near 40 with lows near 23. That works out to about 95 pleasant days a year, more than 57% of cities.
Is Belton good for families?
Schools beat 38% of cities, crime safety beats 73%, and childcare runs $388 a month.
Compare Belton with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Belton. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Belton 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.
Belton detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Belton: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Belton: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Belton: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Belton: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Belton 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.