Best PlacesLewis County, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Lewis County, 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.
Lewis County ranks 2,513th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and empty homes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Lewis 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.
Lewis County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Lewis County ranks high
- Cheap childcare$388 a month, better than 99% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 84% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 66% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 65% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 63% of counties
Where Lewis County ranks low
- Low vacancyBetter than only 13% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 19% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 21% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 23% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 24% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Lewis County
A household needs to earn about $38,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lewis County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $60,748, 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 Lewis County'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 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 Lewis County
Lewis County runs younger than the country, 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 Lewis County.
Who works in Lewis County, and how
Work in Lewis County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Lewis County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Lewis County.
Is Lewis County growing, and who is moving in?
Lewis County has lost about 2% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Adams County, IL.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Lewis County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Lewis County, month by month
Lewis County sees roughly 90 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 28° | 21° |
| April | 66° | 53° | 43° |
| July | 87° | 77° | 68° |
| October | 68° | 57° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Lewis County
The nearest airport, Quincy Regional-Baldwin Field, is about 26 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 115 miles away.
The best schools in and around Lewis County
Schools across Lewis County average a C, better than 32% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Palmyra Elem.B+ · 53% proficient
- Highland Elem.C+ · 37% proficient
- Knox Co. Elem.C+ · 37% proficient
Top middle schools
- Palmyra MiddleC · 34% proficient
- Clark Co. MiddleD · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- Palmyra HighB · 48% proficient
- Knox Co. HighC+ · 40% proficient
- Canton HighC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lewis County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lewis 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 Lewis County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Lewis County
Is Lewis County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lewis County ranks 2,513th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on affordable childcare, low disaster risk, and a stable housing market, and lowest on empty homes and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Lewis County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $148,653. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $60,748 median income, cost of living beats 24% of counties.
Is Lewis County safe?
Lewis County is safer than 33% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $470 per resident a year.
Compare Lewis County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lewis County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lewis 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.
Lewis County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lewis County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lewis County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lewis County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lewis County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lewis 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.