Best PlacesBoone County, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Boone County, 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.
Boone County ranks 730th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It does not top any single list, but it lands above the national middle on an educated workforce and population health. The weaker spots are air quality, noise, and the weather.
The best neighborhoods in Boone 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.
The best areas in Boone County
The parts of Boone County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Columbia
Local pay stretches further, incomes run higher, and more adults hold degrees.
Ashland
Crime runs lower, though biking is worse.
Centralia & Hallsville
More households have young kids and homes cost less.
Boone County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 8% of the country and others in the top 2%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Boone County's strengths and weaknesses
Boone County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. An educated workforce is the standout, in the top 2% of counties. Population health and few empty homes follow.
The one real hole is air quality, near the bottom of the country. Noise and the weather also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Boone County ranks high
- Educational attainmentBetter than 98% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 93% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 90% of counties
- Cheap childcare$520 a month, better than 87% of counties
- Short commute18.7 minutes each way, better than 85% of counties
Where Boone County ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 1% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 9% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 65 pleasant days a year, better than only 13% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 26% of counties
- TransitBetter than only 35% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Boone County
A household needs to earn about $74,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Boone County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $80,873, 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 Boone County's effective rate of 0.83%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Boone County
Boone County runs younger than the country, 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 Boone County.
Who works in Boone County, and how
Work in Boone County centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in Boone County
Boone County has more parkland per resident than 90% of counties and more late-night spots per resident than 87% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Boone County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Boone County growing, and who is moving in?
Boone County has grown about 11% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from St Louis, MO.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Boone County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Boone County, month by month
Boone County sees roughly 65 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 22. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 31° | 22° |
| April | 71° | 56° | 44° |
| July | 91° | 79° | 68° |
| October | 73° | 58° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Boone County
The nearest airport, Columbia Regional, is about 11 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 106 miles away.
The best schools in and around Boone County
Schools across Boone County average a C+, better than 48% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Mill Creek Elem.A− · 61% proficient
- Beulah Ralph ElementaryB+ · 53% proficient
- Midway Heights Elem.B+ · 53% proficient
Top middle schools
- John Warner Middle SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Jefferson Middle SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
- Ann Hawkins Gentry MiddleB · 44% proficient
Top high schools
- Rock Bridge Sr. HighB+ · 51% proficient
- Centralia HighB · 50% proficient
- Hallsville HighB · 47% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Boone County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Boone 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 Boone County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Boone County suits
Families
Schools land around the 48th percentile and crime safety beats 75%.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 85% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 10% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Boone County
Is Boone County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Boone County ranks 730th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on an educated workforce, population health, and few empty homes, and lowest on air quality and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Boone County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $280,129. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $80,873 median income, cost of living beats 85% of counties.
Is Boone County safe?
Yes, Boone County is safer than 75% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $345 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Boone County?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 43 with lows near 22. That works out to about 65 pleasant days a year, more than 13% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Boone County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Columbia, Ashland, and Centralia & Hallsville. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Boone County good for families?
Schools beat 48% of counties, crime safety beats 75%, and childcare runs $520 a month.
Is Boone County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 85% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 66% of counties. About 10% of workers already work from home.
Compare Boone County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Boone County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Boone 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.
Boone County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Boone County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Boone County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Boone County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Boone County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Boone 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.