Best PlacesHilda, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Hilda, 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.
Hilda ranks 43,365th 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 Hilda
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.
Hilda's strengths and weaknesses
Where Hilda ranks high
- Cheap childcare$414 a month, better than 98% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 98% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- QuietBetter than 75% of towns
- School gradeB, better than 74% of towns
Where Hilda ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 7% of towns
- Short commute37.1 minutes each way, better than only 9% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 11% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 12% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Hilda
A household needs to earn about $50,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Hilda home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $52,511, 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 Hilda's effective rate of 0.23%, 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 Hilda
Hilda runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Hilda.
Who works in Hilda, and how
Work in Hilda centers on retail trade and construction. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 97%
- Work from home 1%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Hilda
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Hilda.
What the weather is like in Hilda, month by month
Hilda sees roughly 77 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 45, with lows near 28. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45° | 36° | 28° |
| April | 69° | 58° | 48° |
| July | 89° | 79° | 69° |
| October | 71° | 60° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Hilda
The nearest airport, Branson, is about 14 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 203 miles away.
The best schools in and around Hilda
Schools across Hilda average a B, better than 74% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Mark Twain Elem.A · 65% proficient
- Forsyth Elem.B− · 40% proficient
- Taneyville Elem.C · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Forsyth MiddleB+ · 49% proficient
Top high schools
- Forsyth HighB− · 43% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Hilda school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Hilda 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 Hilda against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Hilda
Is Hilda a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Hilda ranks 43,365th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, low property taxes, and tree cover, and lowest on biking and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Hilda expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $208,599. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $52,511 median income, cost of living beats 11% of towns.
Is Hilda safe?
Hilda is safer than 12% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $596 per resident a year.
Compare Hilda with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Hilda. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Hilda 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.
Hilda detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Hilda: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Hilda: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Hilda: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Hilda: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Hilda 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.