Best PlacesIron County, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Iron County, 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.
Iron County ranks 2,724th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Iron County
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.
Iron County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Iron County ranks high
- Cheap childcare$408 a month, better than 98% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 89% of counties
- TransitBetter than 82% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 81% of counties
- QuietBetter than 69% of counties
Where Iron County ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 5% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 61 pleasant days a year, better than only 7% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than only 8% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 11% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 12% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Iron County
A household needs to earn about $33,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Iron County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $54,041, 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 Iron County's effective rate of 0.50%, 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 Iron County
Iron County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Iron County.
Who works in Iron County, and how
Work in Iron County centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Iron County
Iron County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and more parkland per resident than 82% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Iron County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Iron County growing, and who is moving in?
Iron County has lost about 9% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from St. Francois County, MO.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Iron County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Iron County, month by month
Iron County sees roughly 61 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 33° | 25° |
| April | 69° | 56° | 46° |
| July | 88° | 78° | 69° |
| October | 71° | 58° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Iron County
The nearest airport, Cape Girardeau Regional, is about 67 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 83 miles away.
The best schools in and around Iron County
Schools across Iron County average a C, better than 39% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Lesterville ElementaryB− · 42% proficient
- Arcadia Valley Elem.B− · 40% proficient
- Caledonia Elem.C · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- Arcadia Valley MiddleC+ · 39% proficient
Top high schools
- Arcadia Valley HighB− · 43% proficient
- Lesterville High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Valley HighC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Iron County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Iron County 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 Iron County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Iron County
Is Iron County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Iron County ranks 2,724th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on affordable childcare, tree cover, and transit, and lowest on internet speeds and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Iron County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $131,327. The overall cost of living runs about 23% below the national average. Set against a $54,041 median income, cost of living beats 25% of counties.
Is Iron County safe?
Iron County is safer than 35% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $436 per resident a year.
Compare Iron County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Iron County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Iron County 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.
Iron County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Iron County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Iron County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Iron County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Iron County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Iron County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.