Best PlacesBirch Tree, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Birch Tree, 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.
Birch Tree ranks 42,242nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Birch Tree
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.
Birch Tree's strengths and weaknesses
Where Birch Tree ranks high
- Cheap childcare$370 a month, better than 99% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 94% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 85% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 78% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 73% of towns
Where Birch Tree ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 12% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 14% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 17% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 17% of towns
- Short commute32.7 minutes each way, better than only 21% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Birch Tree
A household needs to earn about $36,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Birch Tree home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $59,773, 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 Birch Tree's effective rate of 0.43%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Birch Tree
Birch Tree runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Birch Tree.
Who works in Birch Tree, and how
Work in Birch Tree centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 94%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Birch Tree
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Birch Tree.
What the weather is like in Birch Tree, month by month
Birch Tree sees roughly 70 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 45, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45° | 35° | 27° |
| April | 70° | 57° | 47° |
| July | 90° | 79° | 69° |
| October | 72° | 60° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Birch Tree
The nearest airport, Waynesville-St Robert Regional Forney Field, is about 63 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 137 miles away.
The best schools in and around Birch Tree
Schools across Birch Tree average a C+, better than 44% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Winona Elem.B− · 41% proficient
- Mountain View Elem.B− · 40% proficient
- Summersville Elem.C · 33% proficient
Top middle schools
- Liberty MiddleC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Liberty Sr. HighB− · 43% proficient
- Summersville HighC+ · 37% proficient
- Eminence HighC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Birch Tree school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Birch Tree 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 Birch Tree against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Birch Tree
Is Birch Tree a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Birch Tree ranks 42,242nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, clean air, and low property taxes, and lowest on distance from a big city and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Birch Tree expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $143,878. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $59,773 median income, cost of living beats 27% of towns.
Is Birch Tree safe?
Birch Tree is safer than 28% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $471 per resident a year.
Compare Birch Tree with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Birch Tree. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Birch Tree 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.
Birch Tree detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Birch Tree: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Birch Tree: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Birch Tree: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Birch Tree: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Birch Tree 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.