Best PlacesHigh Gate, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around High Gate, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
High Gate ranks 18,341st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in High Gate
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.
High Gate's strengths and weaknesses
Where High Gate ranks high
- Cheap childcare$407 a month, better than 98% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 91% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 91% of towns
- Household income$102,163 median, better than 86% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 75% of towns
Where High Gate ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 19% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Short commute32.6 minutes each way, better than only 22% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 22% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 24% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in High Gate
A household needs to earn about $82,000 a year to comfortably buy the median High Gate home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $102,163, 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 High Gate's effective rate of 0.52%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in High Gate
High Gate's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 High Gate.
Who works in High Gate, and how
Work in High Gate centers on education and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in High Gate
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across High Gate.
What the weather is like in High Gate, month by month
High Gate sees roughly 73 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 42, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42° | 32° | 24° |
| April | 68° | 55° | 45° |
| July | 89° | 78° | 68° |
| October | 70° | 58° | 48° |
Flying in and out of High Gate
The nearest airport, Waynesville-St Robert Regional Forney Field, is about 34 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 85 miles away.
The best schools in and around High Gate
Schools across High Gate average a B, better than 65% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lucy Wortham James Elem.B+ · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- St. James MiddleC+ · 36% proficient
Top high schools
- St. James HighB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every High Gate school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
High Gate 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 High Gate against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in High Gate
Is High Gate a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, High Gate ranks 18,341st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, what local pay buys, and fast internet, and lowest on an overheated housing market and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is High Gate expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $328,296. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $102,163 median income, cost of living beats 91% of towns.
Is High Gate safe?
High Gate is safer than 24% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $490 per resident a year.
Compare High Gate with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to High Gate. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in High Gate 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.
High Gate detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for High Gate: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in High Gate: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of High Gate: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in High Gate: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
High Gate 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.