Best PlacesDoniphan, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Doniphan, 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.
Doniphan ranks 47,161st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and the cost of living against local pay is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Doniphan
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.
Doniphan's strengths and weaknesses
Where Doniphan ranks high
- Cheap childcare$347 a month, better than 99% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 92% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 90% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 83% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 80% of towns
Where Doniphan ranks low
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- Household income$36,960 median, better than only 3% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 4% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 6% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 59 pleasant days a year, better than only 6% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Doniphan
A household needs to earn about $32,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Doniphan home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $36,960, 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 Doniphan'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 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 Doniphan
Doniphan'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 Doniphan.
Who works in Doniphan, and how
Work in Doniphan centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Doniphan
Doniphan has more restaurants and bars per resident than 89% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Doniphan and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Doniphan, month by month
Doniphan sees roughly 59 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 46, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 46° | 36° | 29° |
| April | 71° | 59° | 49° |
| July | 90° | 80° | 71° |
| October | 74° | 60° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Doniphan
The nearest airport, Cape Girardeau Regional, is about 81 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 120 miles away.
The best schools in and around Doniphan
Schools across Doniphan average a C, better than 36% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Doniphan IntermediateC+ · 37% proficient
- Alton ElementaryC · 32% proficient
- Ripley Co. Elem.C− · 28% proficient
Top middle schools
- Doniphan MiddleD+ · 24% proficient
Top high schools
- Doniphan HighB− · 42% proficient
- Alton HighD · 23% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Doniphan school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Doniphan 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 Doniphan against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Doniphan
Is Doniphan a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Doniphan ranks 47,161st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, clean air, and walkability, and lowest on the cost of living against local pay and low incomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Doniphan expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $126,039. The overall cost of living runs about 22% below the national average. Set against a $36,960 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Doniphan safe?
Doniphan is safer than 6% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $937 per resident a year.
Compare Doniphan with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Doniphan. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Doniphan 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.
Doniphan detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Doniphan: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Doniphan: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Doniphan: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Doniphan: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Doniphan 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.