Best PlacesKirkwood, KS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Kirkwood, 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.
Kirkwood ranks 22,052nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on fast internet by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Kirkwood
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.
Kirkwood's strengths and weaknesses
Where Kirkwood ranks high
- Internet speedBetter than 99% of towns
- Cheap childcare$467 a month, better than 96% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 95% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 95% of towns
- Short commute17.7 minutes each way, better than 94% of towns
Where Kirkwood ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 12% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 14% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 17% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 19% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 22% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Kirkwood
A household needs to earn about $61,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Kirkwood home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $85,307, 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 Kirkwood's effective rate of 1.08%, 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 Kirkwood
Kirkwood runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Kirkwood.
Who works in Kirkwood, and how
Work in Kirkwood centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Kirkwood
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Kirkwood.
What the weather is like in Kirkwood, month by month
Kirkwood sees roughly 92 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 45, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45° | 34° | 26° |
| April | 70° | 58° | 48° |
| July | 91° | 80° | 71° |
| October | 72° | 60° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Kirkwood
The nearest airport, Joplin Regional, is about 18 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 135 miles away.
The best schools in and around Kirkwood
Schools across Kirkwood average a C, better than 30% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Southeast Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Geo E Nettels ElemC · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- Central ElemC · 35% proficient
- Pittsburg Middle SchoolD+ · 27% proficient
- Southeast Middle SchoolD · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- Pittsburg HighC · 30% proficient
- Columbus Junior High And High SchoolC− · 25% proficient
- Southeast HighD− · 12% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Kirkwood school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Kirkwood 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 Kirkwood against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Kirkwood
Is Kirkwood a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Kirkwood ranks 22,052nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on fast internet, affordable childcare, and state infrastructure, and lowest on a weak job market and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Kirkwood expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $224,461. The overall cost of living runs about 23% below the national average. Set against a $85,307 median income, cost of living beats 87% of towns.
Is Kirkwood safe?
Kirkwood is safer than 28% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $406 per resident a year.
Compare Kirkwood with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Kirkwood. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Kirkwood 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.
Kirkwood detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Kirkwood: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Kirkwood: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Kirkwood: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Kirkwood: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Kirkwood 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.