Best PlacesBrazeau, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Brazeau, 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.
Brazeau ranks 35,702nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and education levels rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Brazeau
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.
Brazeau's strengths and weaknesses
Where Brazeau ranks high
- Cheap childcare$451 a month, better than 97% of towns
- Short commute22.9 minutes each way, better than 75% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 73% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 66% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 63% of towns
Where Brazeau ranks low
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 10% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 14% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 20% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 22% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Brazeau
A household needs to earn about $43,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Brazeau home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $61,102, 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 Brazeau's effective rate of 0.59%, 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 Brazeau
Brazeau runs older 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 Brazeau.
Who works in Brazeau, and how
Work in Brazeau centers on manufacturing and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 96%
- Work from home 3%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Brazeau
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Brazeau.
What the weather is like in Brazeau, month by month
Brazeau sees roughly 68 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 34° | 27° |
| April | 69° | 57° | 47° |
| July | 89° | 78° | 70° |
| October | 72° | 59° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Brazeau
The nearest airport, Cape Girardeau Regional, is about 31 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 84 miles away.
The best schools in and around Brazeau
Schools across Brazeau average a C+, better than 50% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Altenburg Elem.B+ · 52% proficient
- Perryville Elem.C · 33% proficient
Top middle schools
- Perry Co. MiddleC · 33% proficient
Top high schools
- Perryville Sr. HighC+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Brazeau school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Brazeau 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 Brazeau against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Brazeau
Is Brazeau a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Brazeau ranks 35,702nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, short commutes, and state finances, and lowest on education levels and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Brazeau expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $169,524. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $61,102 median income, cost of living beats 46% of towns.
Is Brazeau safe?
Brazeau is safer than 47% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $370 per resident a year.
Compare Brazeau with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Brazeau. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Brazeau 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.
Brazeau detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Brazeau: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Brazeau: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Brazeau: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Brazeau: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Brazeau 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.