Best PlacesEmpire Prairie, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Empire Prairie, 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.
Empire Prairie ranks 29,803rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and biking ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Empire Prairie
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.
Empire Prairie's strengths and weaknesses
Where Empire Prairie ranks high
- Cheap childcare$257 a month, better than 99% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 76% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 73% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 64% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 92 pleasant days a year, better than 61% of towns
Where Empire Prairie ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 8% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 26% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 27% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 29% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Empire Prairie
A household needs to earn about $37,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Empire Prairie home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $68,941, 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 Empire Prairie's effective rate of 0.70%, 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 Empire Prairie
Empire Prairie runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Empire Prairie.
Who works in Empire Prairie, and how
Work in Empire Prairie centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Empire Prairie
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Empire Prairie.
What the weather is like in Empire Prairie, month by month
Empire Prairie sees roughly 92 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 38, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 38° | 28° | 20° |
| April | 68° | 54° | 43° |
| July | 88° | 78° | 68° |
| October | 70° | 56° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Empire Prairie
Kansas City International sits about 54 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 Empire Prairie
Schools across Empire Prairie average a B−, better than 60% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- King City Elem.B · 47% proficient
- Union Star Elem.C− · 28% proficient
Top high schools
- King City HighC+ · 38% proficient
- Maysville Jr.-sr. HighC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Empire Prairie school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Empire Prairie 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 Empire Prairie against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Empire Prairie
Is Empire Prairie a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Empire Prairie ranks 29,803rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, a stable housing market, and state finances, and lowest on biking and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Empire Prairie expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $143,071. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $68,941 median income, cost of living beats 55% of towns.
Is Empire Prairie safe?
Empire Prairie is safer than 31% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $458 per resident a year.
Compare Empire Prairie with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Empire Prairie. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Empire Prairie 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.
Empire Prairie detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Empire Prairie: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Empire Prairie: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Empire Prairie: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Empire Prairie: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Empire Prairie 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.