Best PlacesKnox County, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Knox County, 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.
Knox County ranks 2,662nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Knox County
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.
Knox County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Knox County ranks high
- Cheap childcare$384 a month, better than 99% of counties
- Short commute19.4 minutes each way, better than 82% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 80% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 77% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 65% of counties
Where Knox County ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 4% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 5% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 6% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 6% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than only 6% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Knox County
A household needs to earn about $35,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Knox County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $69,670, 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 Knox County's effective rate of 0.65%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Knox County
Knox County's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Knox County.
Who works in Knox County, and how
Work in Knox County centers on retail trade and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 72%
- Work from home 22%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Knox County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Knox County.
Is Knox County growing, and who is moving in?
Knox County has lost about 6% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Franklin County, IL.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Knox County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Knox County, month by month
Knox County sees roughly 76 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 26° | 19° |
| April | 65° | 52° | 41° |
| July | 87° | 76° | 66° |
| October | 68° | 55° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Knox County
The nearest airport, Kirksville Regional, is about 21 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 136 miles away.
The best schools in and around Knox County
Schools across Knox County average a C+, better than 49% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Adair Co. Elem.B+ · 55% proficient
- La Plata Elem.C+ · 39% proficient
- Highland Elem.C+ · 37% proficient
Top high schools
- North Shelby HighA · 68% proficient
- Adair Co. HighB− · 44% proficient
- Knox Co. HighC+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Knox County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Knox County 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 Knox County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Knox County
Is Knox County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Knox County ranks 2,662nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on affordable childcare, short commutes, and civic engagement, and lowest on internet speeds and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Knox County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $135,515. The overall cost of living runs about 26% below the national average. Set against a $69,670 median income, cost of living beats 77% of counties.
Is Knox County safe?
Knox County is safer than 6% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $746 per resident a year.
Compare Knox County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Knox County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Knox County 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.
Knox County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Knox County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Knox County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Knox County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Knox County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Knox County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.