Best PlacesChamois, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Chamois, 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.
Chamois ranks 43,593rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Chamois
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.
Chamois' strengths and weaknesses
Where Chamois ranks high
- Cheap childcare$497 a month, better than 93% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 78% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 74% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 73% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 72% of towns
Where Chamois ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 4% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 4% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 5% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Short commute33.4 minutes each way, better than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Chamois
A household needs to earn about $29,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Chamois home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $57,783, 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 Chamois' effective rate of 0.53%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Chamois
Chamois 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 Chamois.
Who works in Chamois, and how
Work in Chamois centers on public administration and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Chamois
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Chamois.
What the weather is like in Chamois, month by month
Chamois sees roughly 91 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 33° | 25° |
| April | 71° | 57° | 46° |
| July | 90° | 80° | 71° |
| October | 72° | 59° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Chamois
The nearest airport, Columbia Regional, is about 27 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 75 miles away.
The best schools in and around Chamois
Schools across Chamois average a C+, better than 51% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Fatima Elem.B+ · 52% proficient
- Osage Co. Elem.B− · 40% proficient
- Osage Co. Elem.D · 20% proficient
Top middle schools
- Owensville MiddleB− · 41% proficient
Top high schools
- Chamois HighB · 47% proficient
- Fatima HighC+ · 38% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Chamois school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Chamois 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 Chamois against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Chamois
Is Chamois a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Chamois ranks 43,593rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, health care access, and low property taxes, and lowest on noise and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Chamois expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $116,648. The overall cost of living runs about 22% below the national average. Set against a $57,783 median income, cost of living beats 35% of towns.
Is Chamois safe?
Chamois is safer than 21% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $517 per resident a year.
Compare Chamois with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Chamois. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Chamois 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.
Chamois detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Chamois: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Chamois: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Chamois: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Chamois: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Chamois 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.