Best PlacesFulton, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Fulton, 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.
Fulton ranks 34,607th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Fulton
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.
Fulton's strengths and weaknesses
Where Fulton ranks high
- Cheap childcare$498 a month, better than 92% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 88% of towns
- BikingBetter than 86% of towns
- Short commute21.9 minutes each way, better than 80% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 77% of towns
Where Fulton ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 1% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 66 pleasant days a year, better than only 17% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 18% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 21% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 21% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Fulton
A household needs to earn about $48,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Fulton home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $62,399, 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 Fulton's effective rate of 0.68%, 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 Fulton
Fulton'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 Fulton.
Who works in Fulton, and how
Work in Fulton centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 11%
Life in Fulton
Fulton has more restaurants and bars per resident than 67% of towns and more parkland per resident than 82% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Fulton and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Fulton, month by month
Fulton sees roughly 66 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 22. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 31° | 22° |
| April | 71° | 56° | 44° |
| July | 91° | 79° | 68° |
| October | 73° | 58° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Fulton
The nearest airport, Columbia Regional, is about 14 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 86 miles away.
The best schools in and around Fulton
Schools across Fulton average a C+, better than 42% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Bartley Elem.B · 45% proficient
- Mcintire Elem.C+ · 37% proficient
- Hatton-mccredie Elem.C+ · 37% proficient
Top middle schools
- South Callaway MiddleC+ · 38% proficient
- Southern Boone MiddleC+ · 37% proficient
- Fulton MiddleC · 34% proficient
Top high schools
- Southern Boone HighB− · 42% proficient
- New Bloomfield HighC+ · 39% proficient
- South Callaway HighC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Fulton school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Fulton 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 Fulton against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Fulton
Is Fulton a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Fulton ranks 34,607th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, walkability, and biking, and lowest on air quality and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Fulton expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $185,720. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $62,399 median income, cost of living beats 35% of towns.
Is Fulton safe?
Fulton is safer than 21% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $542 per resident a year.
Compare Fulton with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Fulton. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Fulton 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.
Fulton detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Fulton: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Fulton: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Fulton: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Fulton: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Fulton 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.