Best PlacesDent County, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Dent County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Dent County ranks 2,320th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and health outcomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Dent 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.
Dent County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Dent County ranks high
- Cheap childcare$397 a month, better than 99% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 88% of counties
- Short commute21.0 minutes each way, better than 72% of counties
- QuietBetter than 72% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 71% of counties
Where Dent County ranks low
- Health outlookBetter than only 15% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 15% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 16% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 21% of counties
- Household income$58,923 median, better than only 24% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Dent County
A household needs to earn about $42,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Dent County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $58,923, 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 Dent County's effective rate of 0.43%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Dent County
Dent County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Dent County.
Who works in Dent County, and how
Work in Dent County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Dent County
Dent County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Dent County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Dent County growing, and who is moving in?
Dent County has lost about 6% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Livingston County, MO.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Dent County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Dent County, month by month
Dent County sees roughly 103 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 32° | 23° |
| April | 70° | 55° | 43° |
| July | 89° | 76° | 65° |
| October | 71° | 56° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Dent County
The nearest airport, Waynesville-St Robert Regional Forney Field, is about 33 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 100 miles away.
The best schools in and around Dent County
Schools across Dent County average a C, better than 40% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Green Forest Elem.A · 65% proficient
- Col. John B. Wyman Elem.B · 50% proficient
- North Wood Elem.B− · 43% proficient
Top middle schools
- Rolla MiddleB− · 41% proficient
- Salem Middle SchoolC · 34% proficient
Top high schools
- Rolla Sr. HighB− · 43% proficient
- Licking HighC · 33% proficient
- Bunker HighC− · 27% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Dent County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Dent 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 Dent County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Dent County
Is Dent County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Dent County ranks 2,320th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on affordable childcare, low property taxes, and short commutes, and lowest on health outcomes and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Dent County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $169,336. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $58,923 median income, cost of living beats 35% of counties.
Is Dent County safe?
Dent County is safer than 27% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $500 per resident a year.
Compare Dent County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Dent County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Dent 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.
Dent County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Dent County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Dent County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Dent County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Dent County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Dent 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.