Best PlacesHandy, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Handy, 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.
Handy ranks 44,399th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and health outcomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Handy
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.
Handy's strengths and weaknesses
Where Handy ranks high
- Short commute8.6 minutes each way, better than 99% of towns
- Cheap childcare$228 a month, better than 99% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 99% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 96% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
Where Handy ranks low
- Health outlookBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 2% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- Household income$38,750 median, better than only 3% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
Who lives in Handy
Handy runs younger than the country, though it still carries a larger-than-average share of residents over 65, 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 Handy.
Who works in Handy, and how
Work in Handy centers on agriculture & forestry and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in Handy
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Handy.
What the weather is like in Handy, month by month
Handy sees roughly 72 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 45, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45° | 35° | 27° |
| April | 70° | 57° | 47° |
| July | 90° | 79° | 69° |
| October | 72° | 60° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Handy
The nearest airport, Waynesville-St Robert Regional Forney Field, is about 81 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 137 miles away.
The best schools in and around Handy
Schools across Handy average a C−, better than 24% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Van Buren Elem.C · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Van Buren HighD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Handy school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Handy 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 Handy against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Handy
Is Handy a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Handy ranks 44,399th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on short commutes, affordable childcare, and a strong job market, and lowest on health outcomes and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Handy safe?
Handy is safer than 18% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $536 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Handy?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 45 with lows near 27. That works out to about 72 pleasant days a year, more than 29% of towns.
Compare Handy with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Handy. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Handy 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.
Handy detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Handy: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Handy: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Handy: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Handy: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Handy 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.
- 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.