Best PlacesIdalia, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Idalia, 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.
Idalia ranks 41,656th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Idalia
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.
Idalia's strengths and weaknesses
Where Idalia ranks high
- Cheap childcare$399 a month, better than 99% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 97% of towns
- Short commute20.4 minutes each way, better than 86% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 73% of towns
- School gradeB, better than 70% of towns
Where Idalia ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 61 pleasant days a year, better than only 10% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 11% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 12% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 12% of towns
Who lives in Idalia
Idalia runs younger than the country, 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 Idalia.
Who works in Idalia, and how
Work in Idalia centers on retail trade and construction. Unemployment runs well above 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 Idalia
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Idalia.
What the weather is like in Idalia, month by month
Idalia sees roughly 61 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 45, with lows near 30. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45° | 37° | 30° |
| April | 71° | 59° | 49° |
| July | 91° | 81° | 72° |
| October | 74° | 61° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Idalia
The nearest airport, Cape Girardeau Regional, is about 30 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 126 miles away.
The best schools in and around Idalia
Schools across Idalia average a B, better than 70% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Richland Elem.A+ · 73% proficient
- Bloomfield Elem.A− · 58% proficient
Top middle schools
- Bloomfield MiddleB+ · 50% proficient
Top high schools
- Richland HighB− · 45% proficient
- Bloomfield HighC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Idalia school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Idalia 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 Idalia against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Idalia
Is Idalia a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Idalia ranks 41,656th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, a stable housing market, and short commutes, and lowest on a weak job market and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Idalia safe?
Idalia is safer than 12% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $627 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Idalia?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 45 with lows near 30. That works out to about 61 pleasant days a year, more than 10% of towns.
Compare Idalia with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Idalia. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Idalia 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.
Idalia detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Idalia: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Idalia: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Idalia: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Idalia: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Idalia 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.
- 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.