Best PlacesBollinger County, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Bollinger County, 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.
Bollinger County ranks 2,673rd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and biking ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Bollinger County
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.
Bollinger County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Bollinger County ranks high
- Cheap childcare$402 a month, better than 98% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 89% of counties
- QuietBetter than 86% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 84% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 82% of counties
Where Bollinger County ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 2% of counties
- Short commute35.5 minutes each way, better than only 3% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 6% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 60 pleasant days a year, better than only 6% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 6% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Bollinger County
A household needs to earn about $45,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Bollinger County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $65,988, 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 Bollinger County's effective rate of 0.49%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Bollinger County
Bollinger County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Bollinger County.
Who works in Bollinger County, and how
Work in Bollinger County centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Bollinger County
Bollinger County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Bollinger County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Bollinger County growing, and who is moving in?
Bollinger County has lost about 14% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Kansas City, MO.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Bollinger County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Bollinger County, month by month
Bollinger County sees roughly 60 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 28. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 36° | 28° |
| April | 70° | 58° | 48° |
| July | 90° | 79° | 71° |
| October | 74° | 60° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Bollinger County
The nearest airport, Cape Girardeau Regional, is about 25 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 99 miles away.
The best schools in and around Bollinger County
Schools across Bollinger County average a C, better than 34% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Advance Elem.A · 63% proficient
- Leopold Elem.B− · 44% proficient
- Meadow Heights Elem.C+ · 37% proficient
Top middle schools
- Woodland MiddleB− · 42% proficient
- Perry Co. MiddleC · 33% proficient
- Meadow Heights Middle SchoolD · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- Leopold HighB− · 40% proficient
- Perryville Sr. HighC+ · 40% proficient
- Zalma HighC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Bollinger County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Bollinger County 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 Bollinger County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Bollinger County
Is Bollinger County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Bollinger County ranks 2,673rd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on affordable childcare, a strong job market, and quiet, 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 Bollinger County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $179,872. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $65,988 median income, cost of living beats 55% of counties.
Is Bollinger County safe?
Bollinger County is safer than 22% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $525 per resident a year.
Compare Bollinger County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Bollinger County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Bollinger County 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.
Bollinger County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Bollinger County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Bollinger County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Bollinger County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Bollinger County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Bollinger County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.