Best PlacesCole County, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Cole County, 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.
Cole County ranks 803rd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Cole 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.
Cole County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Cole County ranks high
- Cheap childcare$356 a month, better than 99% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 90% of counties
- Short commute17.9 minutes each way, better than 88% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 87% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 84% of counties
Where Cole County ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 4% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 5% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 25% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 32% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 38% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Cole County
A household needs to earn about $61,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Cole County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $82,403, 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 Cole County's effective rate of 0.74%, 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 Cole County
Cole County's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Cole County.
Who works in Cole County, and how
Work in Cole County centers on public administration and health care & social. 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 4%
Life in Cole County
Cole County has more late-night spots per resident than 70% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Cole County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Cole County growing, and who is moving in?
Cole County has grown about 1% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Jefferson City, MO metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Cole County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Cole County, month by month
Cole County 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 Cole County
The nearest airport, Columbia Regional, is about 18 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 101 miles away.
The best schools in and around Cole County
Schools across Cole County average a B−, better than 67% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Blair Oaks Elem.A+ · 73% proficient
- North Elem.B · 50% proficient
- Cole Co. R-i Elem.B · 47% proficient
Top middle schools
- Blair Oaks Middle SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Thomas Jefferson MiddleB− · 40% proficient
- Lewis And Clark MiddleC+ · 36% proficient
Top high schools
- Blair Oaks HighB+ · 57% proficient
- Jefferson City HighB+ · 52% proficient
- Capital City High SchoolB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Cole County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Cole 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 Cole County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Cole County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 87% of counties and 10% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Cole County
Is Cole County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Cole County ranks 803rd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on affordable childcare, an educated workforce, and short commutes, and lowest on air quality and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Cole County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $234,882. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $82,403 median income, cost of living beats 87% of counties.
Is Cole County safe?
Yes, Cole County is safer than 63% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $430 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Cole County?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 43 with lows near 25. That works out to about 91 pleasant days a year, more than 52% of counties.
Is Cole County good for families?
Schools beat 67% of counties, crime safety beats 63%, and childcare runs $356 a month.
Compare Cole County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Cole County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Cole 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.
Cole County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Cole County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Cole County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Cole County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Cole County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Cole 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.