Best PlacesHarris, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Harris, 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.
Harris ranks 39,278th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and biking ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Harris
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.
Harris' strengths and weaknesses
Where Harris ranks high
- Cheap childcare$284 a month, better than 99% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 90% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 86% of towns
- Short commute20.9 minutes each way, better than 84% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 126 pleasant days a year, better than 83% of towns
Where Harris ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 4% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 6% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 17% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Harris
A household needs to earn about $26,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Harris home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $59,215, 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 Harris' effective rate of 0.68%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Harris
Harris runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Harris.
Who works in Harris, and how
Work in Harris centers on agriculture & forestry and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Harris
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Harris.
What the weather is like in Harris, month by month
Harris sees roughly 126 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 27° | 20° |
| April | 66° | 53° | 43° |
| July | 87° | 76° | 67° |
| October | 69° | 56° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Harris
The nearest airport, Kirksville Regional, is about 46 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 99 miles away.
The best schools in and around Harris
Schools across Harris average a C, better than 32% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Princeton R-v Elem.B · 47% proficient
- Milan Elem.C− · 30% proficient
- Grundy Co. Elem.C− · 29% proficient
Top high schools
- Princeton R-v Jr.-sr. HighC+ · 35% proficient
- Newtown-harris HighC− · 29% proficient
- Milan HighC− · 27% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Harris school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Harris 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 Harris against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Harris
Is Harris a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Harris ranks 39,278th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, a stable housing market, and civic engagement, and lowest on biking and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Harris expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $100,900. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $59,215 median income, cost of living beats 40% of towns.
Is Harris safe?
Harris is safer than 30% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $461 per resident a year.
Compare Harris with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Harris. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Harris 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.
Harris detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Harris: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Harris: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Harris: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Harris: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Harris 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.