Best PlacesKelso, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Kelso, 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.
Kelso ranks 27,987th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Kelso
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.
Kelso's strengths and weaknesses
Where Kelso ranks high
- Cheap childcare$415 a month, better than 98% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 93% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 88% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 79% of towns
- Short commute22.5 minutes each way, better than 77% of towns
Where Kelso ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 61 pleasant days a year, better than only 10% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 11% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 16% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 22% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 28% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Kelso
A household needs to earn about $57,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Kelso home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $68,733, 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 Kelso's effective rate of 0.48%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Kelso
Kelso 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 Kelso.
Who works in Kelso, and how
Work in Kelso centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 96%
- Work from home 3%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Kelso
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Kelso.
What the weather is like in Kelso, month by month
Kelso sees roughly 61 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 28. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 36° | 28° |
| April | 70° | 58° | 48° |
| July | 90° | 79° | 71° |
| October | 74° | 60° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Kelso
The nearest airport, Cape Girardeau Regional, is about 3 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 117 miles away.
The best schools in and around Kelso
Schools across Kelso average a B, better than 69% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Kelso Elem.A− · 58% proficient
- Scott City Elem.D · 20% proficient
Top middle schools
- Scott City MiddleB− · 39% proficient
Top high schools
- Oran High SchoolA− · 62% proficient
- Scott City HighC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Kelso school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Kelso 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 Kelso against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Kelso
Is Kelso a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Kelso ranks 27,987th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, a stable housing market, and few empty homes, and lowest on the weather and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Kelso expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $228,347. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $68,733 median income, cost of living beats 49% of towns.
Is Kelso safe?
Yes, Kelso is safer than 60% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $316 per resident a year.
Compare Kelso with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Kelso. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Kelso 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.
Kelso detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Kelso: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Kelso: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Kelso: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Kelso: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Kelso 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.