Best PlacesHinch, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Hinch, 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.
Hinch ranks 43,391st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Hinch
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.
Hinch's strengths and weaknesses
Where Hinch ranks high
- Cheap childcare$402 a month, better than 98% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 75% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 73% of towns
- QuietBetter than 72% of towns
Where Hinch ranks low
- Short commute43.7 minutes each way, better than only 2% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 11% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 14% of towns
- Household income$54,488 median, better than only 18% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Hinch
A household needs to earn about $58,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Hinch home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $54,488; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Hinch'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, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Hinch
Hinch 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 Hinch.
Who works in Hinch, and how
Work in Hinch centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 93%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Hinch
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Hinch.
What the weather is like in Hinch, month by month
Hinch sees roughly 74 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 Hinch
The nearest airport, Waynesville-St Robert Regional Forney Field, is about 58 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 64 miles away.
The best schools in and around Hinch
Schools across Hinch average a C+, better than 47% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Bourbon Elementary SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Steelville Elem.D · 20% proficient
Top middle schools
- Sullivan MiddleB+ · 48% proficient
- Bourbon Middle SchoolB− · 41% proficient
- Steelville MiddleB− · 39% proficient
Top high schools
- Sullivan Sr. HighB · 48% proficient
- Steelville HighB− · 45% proficient
- Bourbon High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Hinch school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Hinch 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 Hinch against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Hinch
Is Hinch a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Hinch ranks 43,391st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, tree cover, and low property taxes, and lowest on long commutes and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Hinch expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $230,826. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $54,488 median income, cost of living beats 25% of towns.
Is Hinch safe?
Hinch is safer than 25% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $490 per resident a year.
Compare Hinch with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Hinch. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Hinch 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.
Hinch detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Hinch: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Hinch: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Hinch: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Hinch: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Hinch 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.