Best PlacesHarrison County, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Harrison County, 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.
Harrison County ranks 2,560th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and health outcomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Harrison County
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.
Harrison County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Harrison County ranks high
- Cheap childcare$399 a month, better than 98% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 84% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 71% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 65% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 62% of counties
Where Harrison County ranks low
- Health outlookBetter than only 13% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 15% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 18% of counties
- Household income$56,597 median, better than only 19% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 24% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Harrison County
A household needs to earn about $32,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Harrison County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $56,597, 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 Harrison County's effective rate of 0.82%, 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 Harrison County
Harrison County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Harrison County.
Who works in Harrison County, and how
Work in Harrison County centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Harrison County
Harrison County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 72% of counties and more parkland per resident than 81% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Harrison County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Harrison County growing, and who is moving in?
Harrison County has lost about 5% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Columbus, OH.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Harrison County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Harrison County, month by month
Harrison County sees roughly 85 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 25° | 18° |
| April | 64° | 51° | 41° |
| July | 86° | 76° | 67° |
| October | 66° | 54° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Harrison County
The nearest airport, Kirksville Regional, is about 78 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 80 miles away.
The best schools in and around Harrison County
Schools across Harrison County average a C, better than 41% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- North Harrison Elem.B · 45% proficient
- South Harrison Elem.B− · 43% proficient
- Gilman City Elem.C · 32% proficient
Top middle schools
- South Harrison MiddleC · 33% proficient
- Albany MiddleD · 23% proficient
Top high schools
- South Harrison HighB · 48% proficient
- Pattonsburg HighB− · 43% proficient
- North Harrison HighC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Harrison County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Harrison County 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 Harrison County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Harrison County
Is Harrison County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Harrison County ranks 2,560th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on affordable childcare, civic engagement, and low disaster risk, and lowest on health outcomes and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Harrison County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $122,833. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $56,597 median income, cost of living beats 26% of counties.
Is Harrison County safe?
Harrison County is safer than 28% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $488 per resident a year.
Compare Harrison County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Harrison County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Harrison County 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.
Harrison County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Harrison County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Harrison County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Harrison County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Harrison County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Harrison County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.