Best PlacesJudge, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Judge, 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.
Judge ranks 24,063rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Judge
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.
Judge's strengths and weaknesses
Where Judge ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 93% of towns
- Cheap childcare$497 a month, better than 93% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 73% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 72% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 70% of towns
Where Judge ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 10% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 15% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 17% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 20% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 22% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Judge
A household needs to earn about $42,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Judge home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $78,195, 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 Judge'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, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Judge
Judge's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Judge.
Who works in Judge, and how
Work in Judge centers on manufacturing and public administration. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 93%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Judge
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Judge.
What the weather is like in Judge, month by month
Judge sees roughly 78 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 42, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42° | 32° | 24° |
| April | 68° | 55° | 45° |
| July | 89° | 78° | 68° |
| October | 70° | 58° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Judge
The nearest airport, Columbia Regional, is about 36 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 79 miles away.
The best schools in and around Judge
Schools across Judge average a C+, better than 49% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Fatima Elem.B+ · 52% proficient
- Belle Elem.B · 45% proficient
- Osage Co. Elem.B− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Owensville MiddleB− · 41% proficient
- Maries Co. MiddleC− · 28% proficient
Top high schools
- Fatima HighC+ · 38% proficient
- Belle HighC− · 27% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Judge school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Judge 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 Judge against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Judge
Is Judge a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Judge ranks 24,063rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low crime, affordable childcare, and state finances, and lowest on air quality and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Judge expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $164,890. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $78,195 median income, cost of living beats 72% of towns.
Is Judge safe?
Yes, Judge is safer than 93% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $207 per resident a year.
Compare Judge with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Judge. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Judge 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.
Judge detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Judge: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Judge: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Judge: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Judge: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Judge 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.