Best PlacesCenter, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Center, 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.
Center ranks 33,972nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and empty homes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Center
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.
Center's strengths and weaknesses
Where Center ranks high
- Cheap childcare$457 a month, better than 97% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 94% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 90% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 85% of towns
- Short commute23.0 minutes each way, better than 74% of towns
Where Center ranks low
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 19% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 21% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 22% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 23% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Center
A household needs to earn about $30,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Center home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $59,970, 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 Center'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 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 Center
Center 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 Center.
Who works in Center, and how
Work in Center centers on health care & social and transportation & warehousing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Center
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Center.
What the weather is like in Center, month by month
Center sees roughly 95 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 39, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39° | 30° | 24° |
| April | 67° | 55° | 45° |
| July | 88° | 77° | 68° |
| October | 69° | 58° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Center
The nearest airport, Quincy Regional-Baldwin Field, is about 35 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 82 miles away.
The best schools in and around Center
Schools across Center average a C+, better than 42% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Ralls County ElementaryC+ · 37% proficient
- Van-far Elem.C · 32% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mark Twain Jr. HighC+ · 37% proficient
Top high schools
- Van-far Jr./sr. HighC · 32% proficient
- Mark Twain Sr. HighC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Center school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Center 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 Center against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Center
Is Center a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Center ranks 33,972nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, fast internet, and walkability, and lowest on empty homes and the cost of living against local pay. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Center expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $119,082. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $59,970 median income, cost of living beats 19% of towns.
Is Center safe?
Center is safer than 21% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $514 per resident a year.
Compare Center with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Center. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Center 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.
Center detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Center: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Center: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Center: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Center: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Center 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.