Best PlacesHartzell, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Hartzell, 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.
Hartzell ranks 43,560th 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 Hartzell
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.
Hartzell's strengths and weaknesses
Where Hartzell ranks high
- Cheap childcare$356 a month, better than 99% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 96% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 85% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 73% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 71% of towns
Where Hartzell ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 5% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 7% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 10% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 63 pleasant days a year, better than only 13% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Hartzell
A household needs to earn about $32,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Hartzell home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $67,319, 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 Hartzell's effective rate of 0.78%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Hartzell
Hartzell runs older than the country, 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 Hartzell.
Who works in Hartzell, and how
Work in Hartzell centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Hartzell
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Hartzell.
What the weather is like in Hartzell, month by month
Hartzell sees roughly 63 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 47, with lows near 32. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47° | 39° | 32° |
| April | 73° | 61° | 52° |
| July | 92° | 82° | 73° |
| October | 76° | 63° | 53° |
Flying in and out of Hartzell
The nearest airport, Cape Girardeau Regional, is about 54 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 100 miles away.
The best schools in and around Hartzell
Schools across Hartzell average a C−, better than 19% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Gideon Elem.C · 32% proficient
- Risco Elem.C− · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- Risco HighC− · 27% proficient
- Gideon HighD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Hartzell school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Hartzell 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 Hartzell against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Hartzell
Is Hartzell a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Hartzell ranks 43,560th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, a stable housing market, and clean air, and lowest on biking and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Hartzell expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $124,164. The overall cost of living runs about 28% below the national average. Set against a $67,319 median income, cost of living beats 71% of towns.
Is Hartzell safe?
Hartzell is safer than 7% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $764 per resident a year.
Compare Hartzell with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Hartzell. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Hartzell 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.
Hartzell detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Hartzell: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Hartzell: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Hartzell: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Hartzell: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Hartzell 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.