Best PlacesLemons, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Lemons, 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.
Lemons ranks 40,695th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and biking ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Lemons
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.
Lemons' strengths and weaknesses
Where Lemons ranks high
- Cheap childcare$396 a month, better than 99% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 92% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 78% of towns
- Short commute22.5 minutes each way, better than 77% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 73% of towns
Where Lemons ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 7% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 8% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Household income$49,375 median, better than only 12% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 15% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Lemons
A household needs to earn about $35,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lemons home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $49,375, 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 Lemons' effective rate of 0.83%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Lemons
Lemons 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 Lemons.
Who works in Lemons, and how
Work in Lemons centers on agriculture & forestry and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Lemons
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Lemons.
What the weather is like in Lemons, month by month
Lemons sees roughly 87 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 33, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33° | 24° | 18° |
| April | 63° | 50° | 41° |
| July | 85° | 75° | 65° |
| October | 66° | 54° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Lemons
The nearest airport, Kirksville Regional, is about 36 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 117 miles away.
The best schools in and around Lemons
Schools across Lemons average a B, better than 68% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Putnam Co. Elem.B · 45% proficient
- Green City Elem.C · 32% proficient
- Milan Elem.C− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Putnam Co. MiddleB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Putnam Co. HighA− · 60% proficient
- Green City HighB− · 45% proficient
- Milan HighC− · 27% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lemons school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lemons 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 Lemons against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Lemons
Is Lemons a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lemons ranks 40,695th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, a strong job market, and civic engagement, and lowest on biking and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Lemons expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $134,867. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $49,375 median income, cost of living beats 19% of towns.
Is Lemons safe?
Lemons is safer than 8% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $693 per resident a year.
Compare Lemons with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lemons. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lemons 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.
Lemons detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lemons: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lemons: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lemons: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lemons: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lemons 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.