Best PlacesGibbs, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Gibbs, 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.
Gibbs ranks 33,218th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Gibbs
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.
Gibbs' strengths and weaknesses
Where Gibbs ranks high
- Cheap childcare$396 a month, better than 99% of towns
- Short commute21.3 minutes each way, better than 83% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 78% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 73% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 67% of towns
Where Gibbs ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 7% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 14% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 14% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 21% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Gibbs
A household needs to earn about $29,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Gibbs home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $75,616, 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 Gibbs' effective rate of 0.65%, 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 3 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Gibbs
Gibbs runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Gibbs.
Who works in Gibbs, and how
Work in Gibbs centers on retail trade and hospitality & food. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Gibbs
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Gibbs.
What the weather is like in Gibbs, month by month
Gibbs sees roughly 78 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 26° | 19° |
| April | 65° | 52° | 41° |
| July | 87° | 76° | 66° |
| October | 68° | 55° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Gibbs
The nearest airport, Kirksville Regional, is about 6 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 133 miles away.
The best schools in and around Gibbs
Schools across Gibbs average a B, better than 63% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Adair Co. Elem.B+ · 55% proficient
- La Plata Elem.C+ · 39% proficient
- Knox Co. Elem.C+ · 37% proficient
Top middle schools
- William Matthew Middle SchoolC · 32% proficient
Top high schools
- Adair Co. HighB− · 44% proficient
- Kirksville Sr. HighB− · 42% proficient
- La Plata HighC · 32% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Gibbs school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Gibbs 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 Gibbs against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Gibbs
Is Gibbs a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Gibbs ranks 33,218th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, short commutes, and low disaster risk, and lowest on noise and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Gibbs expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $112,269. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $75,616 median income, cost of living beats 58% of towns.
Is Gibbs safe?
Gibbs is safer than 32% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $429 per resident a year.
Compare Gibbs with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Gibbs. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Gibbs 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.
Gibbs detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Gibbs: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Gibbs: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Gibbs: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Gibbs: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Gibbs 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.