Best PlacesDalton, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Dalton, 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.
Dalton ranks 33,228th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Dalton
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.
Dalton's strengths and weaknesses
Where Dalton ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Cheap childcare$453 a month, better than 97% of towns
- Short commute21.7 minutes each way, better than 81% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 77% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 73% of towns
Where Dalton ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 1% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 13% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Dalton
A household needs to earn about $37,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Dalton home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $74,172, 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 Dalton's effective rate of 0.69%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Dalton
Dalton runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Dalton.
Who works in Dalton, and how
Work in Dalton centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Dalton
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Dalton.
What the weather is like in Dalton, month by month
Dalton sees roughly 91 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 39, 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 | 39° | 30° | 24° |
| April | 67° | 55° | 46° |
| July | 87° | 77° | 68° |
| October | 69° | 57° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Dalton
The nearest airport, Kirksville Regional, is about 53 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 92 miles away.
The best schools in and around Dalton
Schools across Dalton average a C−, better than 28% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Keytesville Elem.B+ · 52% proficient
- Brunswick Elem.B · 50% proficient
- Salisbury Elem.C− · 28% proficient
Top high schools
- Brunswick HighB · 50% proficient
- Salisbury HighB− · 42% proficient
- Keytesville HighF · 10% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Dalton school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Dalton 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 Dalton against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Dalton
Is Dalton a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Dalton ranks 33,228th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a stable housing market, affordable childcare, and short commutes, and lowest on air quality and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Dalton expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $145,119. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $74,172 median income, cost of living beats 66% of towns.
Is Dalton safe?
Dalton is safer than 31% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $447 per resident a year.
Compare Dalton with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Dalton. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Dalton 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.
Dalton detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Dalton: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Dalton: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Dalton: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Dalton: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Dalton 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.