Best PlacesHowards Ridge, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Howards Ridge, 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.
Howards Ridge ranks 46,550th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and education levels rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Howards Ridge
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.
Howards Ridge's strengths and weaknesses
Where Howards Ridge ranks high
- Cheap childcare$326 a month, better than 99% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 97% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 85% of towns
- Short commute21.8 minutes each way, better than 81% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 77% of towns
Where Howards Ridge ranks low
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 1% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Household income$32,708 median, better than only 3% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 4% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 7% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Howards Ridge
A household needs to earn about $42,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Howards Ridge home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $32,708, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Howards Ridge's effective rate of 0.43%, 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 Howards Ridge
Howards Ridge 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 Howards Ridge.
Who works in Howards Ridge, and how
Work in Howards Ridge centers on manufacturing and hospitality & food. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 76%
- Work from home 23%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Howards Ridge
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Howards Ridge.
What the weather is like in Howards Ridge, month by month
Howards Ridge sees roughly 79 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 47, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47° | 37° | 29° |
| April | 71° | 59° | 48° |
| July | 90° | 79° | 70° |
| October | 73° | 61° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Howards Ridge
The nearest airport, Branson, is about 48 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 168 miles away.
The best schools in and around Howards Ridge
Schools across Howards Ridge average a B, better than 66% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Gainesville Elem.B · 48% proficient
Top high schools
- Gainesville HighB− · 45% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Howards Ridge school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Howards Ridge 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 Howards Ridge against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Howards Ridge
Is Howards Ridge a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Howards Ridge ranks 46,550th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, clean air, and low property taxes, and lowest on education levels and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Howards Ridge expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $167,500. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $32,708 median income, cost of living beats 7% of towns.
Is Howards Ridge safe?
Howards Ridge is safer than 2% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $960 per resident a year.
Compare Howards Ridge with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Howards Ridge. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Howards Ridge 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.
Howards Ridge detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Howards Ridge: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Howards Ridge: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Howards Ridge: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Howards Ridge: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Howards Ridge 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.