Best PlacesCommerce, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Commerce, 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.
Commerce ranks 34,538th 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 Commerce
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.
Commerce's strengths and weaknesses
Where Commerce ranks high
- Cheap childcare$415 a month, better than 98% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 96% of towns
- Short commute22.4 minutes each way, better than 78% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 76% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 73% of towns
Where Commerce ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 61 pleasant days a year, better than only 10% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 14% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 18% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 21% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Commerce
A household needs to earn about $40,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Commerce home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $66,601, 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 Commerce's effective rate of 0.51%, 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 Commerce
Commerce'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 Commerce.
Who works in Commerce, and how
Work in Commerce centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 95%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Commerce
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Commerce.
What the weather is like in Commerce, month by month
Commerce sees roughly 61 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 28. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 36° | 28° |
| April | 70° | 58° | 48° |
| July | 90° | 79° | 71° |
| October | 74° | 60° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Commerce
The nearest airport, Cape Girardeau Regional, is about 7 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 121 miles away.
The best schools in and around Commerce
Schools across Commerce average a C+, better than 50% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Kelso Elem.A− · 58% proficient
- Scott Co. Elem.C− · 30% proficient
- Scott City Elem.D · 20% proficient
Top middle schools
- Scott City MiddleB− · 39% proficient
- Scott Co. MiddleD · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- Thomas W. Kelly HighC+ · 38% proficient
- Scott City HighC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Commerce school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Commerce 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 Commerce against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Commerce
Is Commerce a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Commerce ranks 34,538th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, a stable housing market, and short commutes, 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 Commerce expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $158,220. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $66,601 median income, cost of living beats 40% of towns.
Is Commerce safe?
Yes, Commerce is safer than 62% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $310 per resident a year.
Compare Commerce with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Commerce. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Commerce 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.
Commerce detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Commerce: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Commerce: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Commerce: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Commerce: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Commerce 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.