Best PlacesGasconade County, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Gasconade County, 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.
Gasconade County ranks 2,092nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Gasconade 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.
Gasconade County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Gasconade County ranks high
- Cheap childcare$497 a month, better than 92% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 81% of counties
- TransitBetter than 79% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 77% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 72% of counties
Where Gasconade County ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 12% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 19% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 24% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 27% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than only 28% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Gasconade County
A household needs to earn about $52,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Gasconade County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $66,177, 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 Gasconade County's effective rate of 0.64%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Gasconade County
Gasconade County runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Gasconade County.
Who works in Gasconade County, and how
Work in Gasconade County centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 93%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Gasconade County
Gasconade County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 79% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Gasconade County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Gasconade County growing, and who is moving in?
Gasconade County has lost about 1% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from St Louis, MO.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Gasconade County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Gasconade County, month by month
Gasconade County sees roughly 77 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 42, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42° | 32° | 24° |
| April | 68° | 55° | 45° |
| July | 89° | 78° | 68° |
| October | 70° | 58° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Gasconade County
The nearest airport, Columbia Regional, is about 47 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 64 miles away.
The best schools in and around Gasconade County
Schools across Gasconade County average a C+, better than 56% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Strain-japan Elem.A · 63% proficient
- Cuba Elem.A− · 58% proficient
- Lucy Wortham James Elem.B+ · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Cuba MiddleB · 46% proficient
- Hermann MiddleB · 45% proficient
- Owensville MiddleB− · 41% proficient
Top high schools
- St. James HighB · 50% proficient
- Hermann HighB · 47% proficient
- Chamois HighB · 47% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Gasconade County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Gasconade 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 Gasconade County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Gasconade County
Is Gasconade County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Gasconade County ranks 2,092nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on affordable childcare, low disaster risk, and transit, and lowest on internet speeds and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Gasconade County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $202,613. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $66,177 median income, cost of living beats 52% of counties.
Is Gasconade County safe?
Gasconade County is safer than 34% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $454 per resident a year.
Compare Gasconade County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Gasconade County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Gasconade 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.
Gasconade County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Gasconade County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Gasconade County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Gasconade County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Gasconade County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Gasconade 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.