Best PlacesBernie, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Bernie, 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.
Bernie ranks 31,684th 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 Bernie
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.
Bernie's strengths and weaknesses
Where Bernie ranks high
- Cheap childcare$397 a month, better than 99% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 96% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 91% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 86% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 83% of towns
Where Bernie ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 59 pleasant days a year, better than only 7% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 9% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 10% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 11% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 14% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Bernie
A household needs to earn about $34,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Bernie home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $61,944, 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 Bernie's effective rate of 0.68%, 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 Bernie
Bernie runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Bernie.
Who works in Bernie, and how
Work in Bernie centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 95%
- Work from home 2%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Bernie
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Bernie.
What the weather is like in Bernie, month by month
Bernie sees roughly 59 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 46, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 46° | 36° | 29° |
| April | 71° | 59° | 49° |
| July | 90° | 80° | 71° |
| October | 74° | 60° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Bernie
The nearest airport, Cape Girardeau Regional, is about 45 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 112 miles away.
The best schools in and around Bernie
Schools across Bernie average a B+, better than 74% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Bernie Elem.A− · 57% proficient
- Fisk ElementaryC− · 28% proficient
- Risco Elem.C− · 27% proficient
Top middle schools
- T. S. Hill MiddleC · 35% proficient
- Central Middle SchoolD− · 18% proficient
Top high schools
- Bernie HighB+ · 52% proficient
- Dexter HighC+ · 37% proficient
- Risco HighC− · 27% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Bernie school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Bernie 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 Bernie against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Bernie
Is Bernie a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Bernie ranks 31,684th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, a stable housing market, and clean air, and lowest on the weather and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Bernie expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $133,283. The overall cost of living runs about 26% below the national average. Set against a $61,944 median income, cost of living beats 50% of towns.
Is Bernie safe?
Yes, Bernie is safer than 58% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $348 per resident a year.
Compare Bernie with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Bernie. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Bernie 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.
Bernie detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Bernie: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Bernie: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Bernie: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Bernie: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Bernie 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.