Best PlacesIndependence, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Independence, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Independence ranks 404th of 445 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It ranks low mainly on health outcomes and crime. It does better on affordable childcare, which keeps it off the bottom.
The best neighborhoods in Independence
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.
The best areas in Independence
The parts of Independence, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the city.
Southern Independence
More residents vote, local pay stretches further, and health care is easier to reach.
Southwestern Independence
Fewer adults hold degrees and schools score lower.
Western Independence
More homes sit empty and incomes run lower.
Northwestern Independence
Biking is better, though crime runs higher.
Scores across Independence run from about the 3rd to the 69th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Independence's strengths and weaknesses
Independence ranks near the bottom because several of the basics fall short at once. Affordable childcare, low disaster risk, and fast internet are the strongest pieces, though none of them is exceptional.
The weak spots are broad rather than narrow: health outcomes, crime, and noise all drag on the score. Those are area averages, and the map below shows which parts run well above them.
Where Independence ranks high
- Cheap childcare$840 a month, better than 80% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than 79% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than 74% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than 72% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 72% of cities
Where Independence ranks low
- Health outlookBetter than only 2% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than only 5% of cities
- QuietBetter than only 9% of cities
- Household income$65,168 median, better than only 10% of cities
- BikingBetter than only 12% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Independence
A household needs to earn about $48,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Independence home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $65,168, 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 Independence's effective rate of 1.09%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Independence
Independence's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Independence.
Who works in Independence, and how
Work in Independence centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Independence
Independence has more restaurants and bars per resident than 67% of cities and more parkland per resident than 90% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Independence and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Independence, month by month
Independence sees roughly 98 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41° | 31° | 24° |
| April | 68° | 56° | 46° |
| July | 89° | 80° | 71° |
| October | 70° | 59° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Independence
Kansas City International sits about 22 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 5.7 million passengers in 2025, with 104 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Independence
Schools across Independence average a C, better than 28% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Voy Spears Jr. Elem.A+ · 74% proficient
- James Lewis Elem.A− · 62% proficient
- Sunny Pointe Elem.A− · 61% proficient
Top middle schools
- Delta Woods MiddleA · 64% proficient
- Brittany Hill MiddleA− · 53% proficient
- Paul Kinder Middle SchoolB · 47% proficient
Top high schools
- Blue Springs South HighB+ · 55% proficient
- Blue Springs HighB+ · 55% proficient
- Fort Osage HighC+ · 36% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Independence school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Independence 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 Independence against the other 444 cities.
Who Independence suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 12% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Independence
Is Independence a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Independence ranks 404th of 445 cities. It scores highest on affordable childcare, low disaster risk, and fast internet, and lowest on health outcomes and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Independence expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $176,646. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $65,168 median income, cost of living beats 24% of cities.
Is Independence safe?
Independence is safer than 5% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $788 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Independence?
July highs average about 89 degrees, and January highs near 41 with lows near 24. That works out to about 98 pleasant days a year, more than 46% of cities.
What are the best neighborhoods in Independence?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Southern Independence, Southwestern Independence, and Western Independence. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Independence good for families?
Schools beat 28% of cities, crime safety beats 5%, and childcare runs $840 a month.
Is Independence good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 24% of cities, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 74% of cities. About 12% of workers already work from home.
Compare Independence with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Independence. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Independence 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.
Independence detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Independence: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Independence: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Independence: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Independence: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Independence 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.