Best PlacesCuba, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Cuba, 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.
Cuba ranks 34,879th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and education levels rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Cuba
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.
Cuba's strengths and weaknesses
Where Cuba ranks high
- Cheap childcare$402 a month, better than 98% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 90% of towns
- BikingBetter than 76% of towns
- Short commute23.0 minutes each way, better than 74% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 73% of towns
Where Cuba ranks low
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 10% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 10% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 16% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 23% of towns
- Household income$58,671 median, better than only 25% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Cuba
A household needs to earn about $42,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Cuba home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $58,671, 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 Cuba's effective rate of 0.54%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Cuba
Cuba 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 Cuba.
Who works in Cuba, and how
Work in Cuba centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Cuba
Cuba has more restaurants and bars per resident than 86% of towns and more parkland per resident than 91% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Cuba and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Cuba, month by month
Cuba sees roughly 73 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 42, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42° | 32° | 24° |
| April | 68° | 55° | 45° |
| July | 89° | 78° | 68° |
| October | 70° | 58° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Cuba
The nearest airport, Waynesville-St Robert Regional Forney Field, is about 46 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 73 miles away.
The best schools in and around Cuba
Schools across Cuba average a B, better than 69% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Strain-japan Elem.A · 63% proficient
- Cuba Elem.A− · 58% proficient
- Gerald Elem.B · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- Cuba MiddleB · 46% proficient
- Owensville MiddleB− · 41% proficient
- Steelville MiddleB− · 39% proficient
Top high schools
- Steelville HighB− · 45% proficient
- Cuba HighC+ · 40% proficient
- Owensville HighC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Cuba school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Cuba 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 Cuba against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Cuba
Is Cuba a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Cuba ranks 34,879th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, walkability, and biking, and lowest on education levels and health outcomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Cuba expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $167,367. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $58,671 median income, cost of living beats 30% of towns.
Is Cuba safe?
Cuba is safer than 42% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $391 per resident a year.
Compare Cuba with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Cuba. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Cuba 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.
Cuba detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Cuba: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Cuba: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Cuba: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Cuba: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Cuba 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.