Best PlacesIron Mountain Lake, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Iron Mountain Lake, 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 Mountain Lake ranks 47,475th 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 Iron Mountain Lake
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 Mountain Lake's strengths and weaknesses
Where Iron Mountain Lake ranks high
- Cheap childcare$329 a month, better than 99% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 97% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 73% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 72% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 69% of towns
Where Iron Mountain Lake ranks low
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 1% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- Household income$30,549 median, better than only 3% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 56 pleasant days a year, better than only 4% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Iron Mountain Lake
A household needs to earn about $13,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Iron Mountain Lake home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $30,549, 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 Mountain Lake's effective rate of 0.71%, 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 2 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 Mountain Lake
Iron Mountain Lake 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 Iron Mountain Lake.
Who works in Iron Mountain Lake, and how
Work in Iron Mountain Lake centers on arts & entertainment and health care & social. Unemployment is low, 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 Iron Mountain Lake
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Iron Mountain Lake.
What the weather is like in Iron Mountain Lake, month by month
Iron Mountain Lake sees roughly 56 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 Mountain Lake
The nearest airport, Cape Girardeau Regional, is about 66 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 75 miles away.
The best schools in and around Iron Mountain Lake
Schools across Iron Mountain Lake average a B−, better than 62% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Bismarck R-v Elem.C− · 30% proficient
- Belleview Elem.D · 20% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lincoln IntermediateB · 45% proficient
Top high schools
- Farmington Sr. HighB+ · 57% proficient
- Central HighB · 48% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Iron Mountain Lake school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Iron Mountain Lake 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 Mountain Lake against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Iron Mountain Lake
Is Iron Mountain Lake a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Iron Mountain Lake ranks 47,475th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, fast internet, and state finances, and lowest on education levels and health outcomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Iron Mountain Lake expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $52,177. The overall cost of living runs about 22% below the national average. Set against a $30,549 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Iron Mountain Lake safe?
Iron Mountain Lake is safer than 34% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $428 per resident a year.
Compare Iron Mountain Lake with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Iron Mountain Lake. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Iron Mountain Lake 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 Mountain Lake detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Iron Mountain Lake: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Iron Mountain Lake: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Iron Mountain Lake: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Iron Mountain Lake: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Iron Mountain Lake 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.