Best PlacesJoplin, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Joplin, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Joplin ranks 27,065th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Joplin
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.
Joplin's strengths and weaknesses
Where Joplin ranks high
- QuietBetter than 92% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 92% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 143 pleasant days a year, better than 90% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 81% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 80% of towns
Where Joplin ranks low
- Short commute40.0 minutes each way, better than only 5% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 14% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 14% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 17% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Joplin
A household needs to earn about $102,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Joplin home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $80,213, 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 Joplin's effective rate of 0.56%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Joplin
Joplin 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 Joplin.
Who works in Joplin, and how
Work in Joplin centers on construction and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Joplin
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Joplin.
What the weather is like in Joplin, month by month
Joplin sees roughly 143 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 97 degrees. January highs sit near 58, with lows near 33. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 58° | 44° | 33° |
| April | 76° | 64° | 52° |
| July | 97° | 84° | 73° |
| October | 80° | 66° | 54° |
Flying in and out of Joplin
Dallas-Fort Worth International sits about 59 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 41.3 million passengers in 2025, with 289 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Joplin
Schools across Joplin average a C, better than 40% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Jacksboro ElC · 35% proficient
- Perrin ElC− · 28% proficient
Top middle schools
- Jacksboro MiddleB · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- Jacksboro H SB+ · 57% proficient
- Perrin H SC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Joplin school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Joplin 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 Joplin against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Joplin
Is Joplin a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Joplin ranks 27,065th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on quiet, low taxes, and the weather, and lowest on long commutes and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Joplin expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $404,300. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $80,213 median income, cost of living beats 54% of towns.
Is Joplin safe?
Yes, Joplin is safer than 66% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $301 per resident a year.
Compare Joplin with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Joplin. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Joplin 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.
Joplin detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Joplin: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Joplin: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Joplin: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Joplin: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Joplin 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.