Best PlacesKnob Noster, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Knob Noster, 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.
Knob Noster ranks 20,269th 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 Knob Noster
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.
Knob Noster's strengths and weaknesses
Where Knob Noster ranks high
- Cheap childcare$456 a month, better than 97% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 90% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 87% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 86% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 85% of towns
Where Knob Noster ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 54 pleasant days a year, better than only 2% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 12% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 31% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 31% of towns
- Household income$65,190 median, better than only 37% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Knob Noster
A household needs to earn about $53,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Knob Noster home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $65,190, 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 Knob Noster's effective rate of 0.64%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Knob Noster
Knob Noster runs younger 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 Knob Noster.
Who works in Knob Noster, and how
Work in Knob Noster centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Knob Noster
Knob Noster has more restaurants and bars per resident than 84% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Knob Noster and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Knob Noster, month by month
Knob Noster sees roughly 54 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41° | 31° | 23° |
| April | 68° | 55° | 45° |
| July | 89° | 78° | 69° |
| October | 71° | 58° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Knob Noster
Kansas City International sits about 72 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 5.7 million passengers in 2025, with 104 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Knob Noster
Schools across Knob Noster average a B, better than 68% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Whiteman A.f.b. Elem.B · 48% proficient
- Sweet Springs Elem.B · 48% proficient
- Green Ridge Elem.B · 47% proficient
Top middle schools
- Knob Noster MiddleB+ · 52% proficient
- Leeton MiddleB · 45% proficient
- Warrensburg MiddleB− · 41% proficient
Top high schools
- Knob Noster HighB · 50% proficient
- Concordia HighB− · 42% proficient
- Warrensburg HighB− · 41% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Knob Noster school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Knob Noster 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 Knob Noster against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Knob Noster
Is Knob Noster a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Knob Noster ranks 20,269th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, few empty homes, and walkability, 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 Knob Noster expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $208,549. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $65,190 median income, cost of living beats 42% of towns.
Is Knob Noster safe?
Yes, Knob Noster is safer than 65% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $350 per resident a year.
Compare Knob Noster with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Knob Noster. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Knob Noster 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.
Knob Noster detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Knob Noster: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Knob Noster: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Knob Noster: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Knob Noster: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Knob Noster 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.