Best PlacesCobalt, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Cobalt, 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.
Cobalt ranks 39,202nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Cobalt
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.
Cobalt's strengths and weaknesses
Where Cobalt ranks high
- Cheap childcare$411 a month, better than 98% of towns
- BikingBetter than 74% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 73% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 64% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 64% of towns
Where Cobalt ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 55 pleasant days a year, better than only 2% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 20% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 22% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 24% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 25% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Cobalt
A household needs to earn about $38,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Cobalt home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $59,453, 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 Cobalt's effective rate of 0.73%, 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 3 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Cobalt
Cobalt runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Cobalt.
Who works in Cobalt, and how
Work in Cobalt centers on health care & social and transportation & warehousing. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Cobalt
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Cobalt.
What the weather is like in Cobalt, month by month
Cobalt sees roughly 55 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 33° | 25° |
| April | 69° | 56° | 46° |
| July | 88° | 78° | 69° |
| October | 71° | 58° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Cobalt
The nearest airport, Cape Girardeau Regional, is about 44 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 Cobalt
Schools across Cobalt average a C+, better than 51% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Fredericktown IntermediateB− · 42% proficient
Top middle schools
- Kelly A Burlison Middle SchoolB− · 39% proficient
Top high schools
- Fredericktown HighC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Cobalt school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Cobalt 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 Cobalt against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Cobalt
Is Cobalt a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Cobalt ranks 39,202nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, biking, and state finances, and lowest on the weather and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Cobalt expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $147,769. The overall cost of living runs about 22% below the national average. Set against a $59,453 median income, cost of living beats 37% of towns.
Is Cobalt safe?
Cobalt is safer than 26% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $472 per resident a year.
Compare Cobalt with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Cobalt. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Cobalt 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.
Cobalt detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Cobalt: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Cobalt: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Cobalt: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Cobalt: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Cobalt 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.