Best PlacesGrain Valley, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Grain Valley, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Grain Valley ranks 5,812th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on fast internet by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Grain Valley
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.
Grain Valley's strengths and weaknesses
Where Grain Valley ranks high
- Internet speedBetter than 91% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 91% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 89% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 88% of towns
- BikingBetter than 87% of towns
Where Grain Valley ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 13% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 22% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 24% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 35% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 36% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Grain Valley
A household needs to earn about $86,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Grain Valley home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $99,904, 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 Grain Valley's effective rate of 1.11%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Grain Valley
Grain Valley runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Grain Valley.
Who works in Grain Valley, and how
Work in Grain Valley centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Grain Valley
Grain Valley has more parkland per resident than 88% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Grain Valley and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Grain Valley, month by month
Grain Valley sees roughly 94 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41° | 31° | 24° |
| April | 68° | 56° | 46° |
| July | 89° | 80° | 71° |
| October | 70° | 59° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Grain Valley
Kansas City International sits about 33 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 Grain Valley
Schools across Grain Valley average a B, better than 70% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lucy Franklin Elem.A · 67% proficient
- James Lewis Elem.A− · 62% proficient
- Mason Elem.A− · 56% proficient
Top middle schools
- Brittany Hill MiddleA− · 53% proficient
- Moreland Ridge MiddleB+ · 51% proficient
- Grain Valley North Middle SchlB+ · 48% proficient
Top high schools
- Blue Springs South HighB+ · 55% proficient
- Blue Springs HighB+ · 55% proficient
- Lee's Summit North HighB · 49% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Grain Valley school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Grain Valley 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 Grain Valley against the other 50,332 towns.
Who Grain Valley suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 88% of towns, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 18% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Grain Valley
Is Grain Valley a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Grain Valley ranks 5,812th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on fast internet, cell coverage, and a strong job market, and lowest on noise and car insurance costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Grain Valley expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $316,792. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $99,904 median income, cost of living beats 88% of towns.
Is Grain Valley safe?
Yes, Grain Valley is safer than 68% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $299 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Grain Valley?
July highs average about 89 degrees, and January highs near 41 with lows near 24. That works out to about 94 pleasant days a year, more than 64% of towns.
Is Grain Valley good for families?
Schools beat 70% of towns, crime safety beats 68%, and childcare runs $840 a month.
Compare Grain Valley with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Grain Valley. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Grain Valley 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.
Grain Valley detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Grain Valley: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Grain Valley: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Grain Valley: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Grain Valley: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Grain Valley 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.