Best PlacesDuke, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Duke, 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.
Duke ranks 40,477th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Duke
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.
Duke's strengths and weaknesses
Where Duke ranks high
- Cheap childcare$426 a month, better than 98% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 77% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 75% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 73% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 71% of towns
Where Duke ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 55 pleasant days a year, better than only 3% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 7% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 10% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 12% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Duke
A household needs to earn about $43,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Duke home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $58,980, 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 Duke's effective rate of 0.55%, 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 Duke
Duke runs younger than the country, though it still carries a larger-than-average share of residents over 65.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Duke.
Who works in Duke, and how
Work in Duke centers on education and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 14%
Life in Duke
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Duke.
What the weather is like in Duke, month by month
Duke sees roughly 55 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 34° | 26° |
| April | 70° | 57° | 46° |
| July | 89° | 78° | 69° |
| October | 71° | 58° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Duke
The nearest airport, Waynesville-St Robert Regional Forney Field, is about 7 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 116 miles away.
The best schools in and around Duke
Schools across Duke average a C+, better than 49% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Thayer Elem.A · 67% proficient
- Plato Elem.B− · 42% proficient
- Phelps Co. Elem.B− · 42% proficient
Top middle schools
- 6th Grade CenterB · 44% proficient
Top high schools
- Waynesville Sr. HighB− · 45% proficient
- Rolla Sr. HighB− · 43% proficient
- Licking HighC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Duke school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Duke 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 Duke against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Duke
Is Duke a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Duke ranks 40,477th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, clean air, and tree cover, and lowest on the weather and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Duke expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $171,524. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $58,980 median income, cost of living beats 25% of towns.
Is Duke safe?
Duke is safer than 32% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $445 per resident a year.
Compare Duke with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Duke. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Duke 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.
Duke detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Duke: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Duke: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Duke: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Duke: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Duke 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.