Best PlacesGreencastle, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Greencastle, 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.
Greencastle ranks 34,728th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and empty homes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Greencastle
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.
Greencastle's strengths and weaknesses
Where Greencastle ranks high
- Cheap childcare$404 a month, better than 98% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 84% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 78% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 73% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 73% of towns
Where Greencastle ranks low
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 14% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 22% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 22% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 26% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Greencastle
A household needs to earn about $31,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Greencastle home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $62,579, 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 Greencastle's effective rate of 0.44%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Greencastle
Greencastle runs older 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 Greencastle.
Who works in Greencastle, and how
Work in Greencastle centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 93%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Greencastle
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Greencastle.
What the weather is like in Greencastle, month by month
Greencastle sees roughly 79 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 Greencastle
The nearest airport, Kirksville Regional, is about 20 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 118 miles away.
The best schools in and around Greencastle
Schools across Greencastle average a C+, better than 48% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Green City Elem.C · 32% proficient
- Adair Co. Elem.D+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- William Matthew Middle SchoolC · 32% proficient
Top high schools
- Green City HighB− · 45% proficient
- Kirksville Sr. HighB− · 42% proficient
- Adair Co. HighC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Greencastle school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Greencastle 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 Greencastle against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Greencastle
Is Greencastle a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Greencastle ranks 34,728th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, low property taxes, and a stable housing market, and lowest on empty homes 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 Greencastle expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $124,652. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $62,579 median income, cost of living beats 36% of towns.
Is Greencastle safe?
Greencastle is safer than 31% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $447 per resident a year.
Compare Greencastle with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Greencastle. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Greencastle 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.
Greencastle detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Greencastle: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Greencastle: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Greencastle: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Greencastle: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Greencastle 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.