Best PlacesChristian County, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Christian County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Christian County ranks 457th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Christian 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 Christian County
The parts of Christian 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.
Nixa
More adults hold degrees, schools score higher, and commutes are shorter.
Billings
Fewer homes sit empty and local pay stretches further.
Ozark
More households have young kids, though it is noisier.
Clever
Tree cover is thinner and incomes run lower.
Highlandville
Prices have run up more and health outcomes score lower.
Sparta
Advertised internet is slower.
Christian County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 10% of the country and others in the top 6%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Christian County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Christian County ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 97% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 97% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 91% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 90% of counties
- Cheap childcare$524 a month, better than 87% of counties
Where Christian County ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 63 pleasant days a year, better than only 10% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 22% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 26% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 32% of counties
- TransitBetter than only 35% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Christian County
A household needs to earn about $72,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Christian County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $86,573, 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 Christian County's effective rate of 0.70%, 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 Christian County
Christian County's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Christian County.
Who works in Christian County, and how
Work in Christian County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Christian County
Christian County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and less parkland per resident than most counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Christian County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Christian County growing, and who is moving in?
Christian County has grown about 17% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Springfield, MO metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Christian County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Christian County, month by month
Christian County sees roughly 63 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 47, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47° | 34° | 23° |
| April | 71° | 57° | 44° |
| July | 92° | 79° | 69° |
| October | 74° | 59° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Christian County
The nearest airport, Springfield-Branson Ntl, is about 16 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 176 miles away.
The best schools in and around Christian County
Schools across Christian County average a B+, better than 86% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- John Thomas School Of DiscoverA+ · 73% proficient
- Mathews Elem.A · 71% proficient
- East Elem.A · 70% proficient
Top middle schools
- Nixa Junior HighA · 62% proficient
- Nicholas A. Inman IntermediateA · 61% proficient
- Ozark Middle SchoolA− · 58% proficient
Top high schools
- Nixa HighA · 70% proficient
- Republic HighB+ · 54% proficient
- Ozark HighB+ · 53% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Christian County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Christian 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 Christian County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Christian County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 90% of counties and 10% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Christian County
Is Christian County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Christian County ranks 457th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low crime, few empty homes, and civic engagement, and lowest on the weather and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Christian County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $279,677. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $86,573 median income, cost of living beats 90% of counties.
Is Christian County safe?
Yes, Christian County is safer than 97% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $231 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Christian County?
July highs average about 92 degrees, and January highs near 47 with lows near 23. That works out to about 63 pleasant days a year, more than 10% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Christian County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Nixa, Billings, and Ozark. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Christian County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Christian County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Christian 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.
Christian County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Christian County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Christian County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Christian County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Christian County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Christian 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.