Best PlacesLinn County, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Linn 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.
Linn County ranks 1,611th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Linn 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.
Linn County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Linn County ranks high
- Cheap childcare$435 a month, better than 98% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 134 pleasant days a year, better than 85% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 83% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 79% of counties
- Short commute20.2 minutes each way, better than 77% of counties
Where Linn County ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 7% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 21% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 23% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than only 26% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 26% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Linn County
A household needs to earn about $34,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Linn County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $62,944, 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 Linn County's effective rate of 0.73%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Linn County
Linn County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Linn County.
Who works in Linn County, and how
Work in Linn County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Linn County
Linn County has more parkland per resident than 76% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Linn County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Linn County growing, and who is moving in?
Linn County has lost about 3% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Kansas City, MO.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Linn County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Linn County, month by month
Linn County sees roughly 134 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 27° | 20° |
| April | 66° | 53° | 43° |
| July | 87° | 76° | 67° |
| October | 69° | 56° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Linn County
The nearest airport, Kirksville Regional, is about 34 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 94 miles away.
The best schools in and around Linn County
Schools across Linn County average a B, better than 75% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Bucklin Elem.A− · 60% proficient
- Laredo Elem.A− · 58% proficient
- Walt Disney Elem.B+ · 53% proficient
Top middle schools
- Brookfield MiddleA− · 56% proficient
- Marceline MiddleA− · 55% proficient
Top high schools
- Meadville HighA− · 60% proficient
- Marceline HighB · 47% proficient
- Linn Co. HighB− · 42% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Linn County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Linn 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 Linn County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Linn County
Is Linn County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Linn County ranks 1,611th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on affordable childcare, the weather, and heat safety, and lowest on noise and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Linn County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $131,531. The overall cost of living runs about 25% below the national average. Set against a $62,944 median income, cost of living beats 64% of counties.
Is Linn County safe?
Yes, Linn County is safer than 56% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $379 per resident a year.
Compare Linn County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Linn County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Linn 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.
Linn County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Linn County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Linn County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Linn County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Linn County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Linn 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.