Best PlacesDaviess County, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Daviess 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.
Daviess County ranks 2,490th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Daviess 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.
Daviess County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Daviess County ranks high
- Cheap childcare$442 a month, better than 97% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 81% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 77% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 65% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 62% of counties
Where Daviess County ranks low
- Short commute34.9 minutes each way, better than only 4% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 13% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 17% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than only 18% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 21% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Daviess County
A household needs to earn about $44,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Daviess County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $66,898, 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 Daviess County's effective rate of 0.53%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Daviess County
Daviess County's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Daviess County.
Who works in Daviess County, and how
Work in Daviess County centers on retail trade and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Daviess County
Daviess County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Daviess County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Daviess County growing, and who is moving in?
Daviess County has grown about 3% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Kansas City, MO.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Daviess County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Daviess County, month by month
Daviess County sees roughly 80 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 38, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 38° | 28° | 21° |
| April | 68° | 54° | 44° |
| July | 89° | 78° | 69° |
| October | 70° | 57° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Daviess County
Kansas City International sits about 59 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 5.7 million passengers in 2025, with 104 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Daviess County
Schools across Daviess County average a C+, better than 56% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Tri-county Elem.A+ · 75% proficient
- Covel D. Searcy Elem.B+ · 53% proficient
- South Harrison Elem.B− · 43% proficient
Top middle schools
- Cameron Veterans MiddleB · 43% proficient
- Hamilton MiddleC+ · 38% proficient
- Trenton MiddleC+ · 37% proficient
Top high schools
- Gallatin HighB− · 45% proficient
- Pattonsburg HighB− · 43% proficient
- Cameron HighC+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Daviess County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Daviess 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 Daviess County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Daviess County
Is Daviess County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Daviess County ranks 2,490th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on affordable childcare, a strong job market, and low property taxes, and lowest on long commutes and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Daviess County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $174,779. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $66,898 median income, cost of living beats 40% of counties.
Is Daviess County safe?
Daviess County is safer than 46% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $442 per resident a year.
Compare Daviess County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Daviess County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Daviess 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.
Daviess County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Daviess County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Daviess County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Daviess County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Daviess County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Daviess 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.