Best PlacesLucerne, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Lucerne, 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.
Lucerne ranks 42,137th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and low incomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Lucerne
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.
Lucerne's strengths and weaknesses
Where Lucerne ranks high
- Cheap childcare$394 a month, better than 99% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 94% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 85% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 82% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 73% of towns
Where Lucerne ranks low
- Household income$42,731 median, better than only 3% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 7% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 12% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 16% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Lucerne
A household needs to earn about $27,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lucerne home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $42,731, 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 Lucerne's effective rate of 0.84%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Lucerne
Lucerne runs older 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 Lucerne.
Who works in Lucerne, and how
Work in Lucerne centers on admin & support services and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 67%
- Work from home 30%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Lucerne
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Lucerne.
What the weather is like in Lucerne, month by month
Lucerne sees roughly 98 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 Lucerne
The nearest airport, Kirksville Regional, is about 45 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 112 miles away.
The best schools in and around Lucerne
Schools across Lucerne average a B, better than 70% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- North Mercer Elem.A · 65% proficient
- Princeton R-v Elem.B · 47% proficient
- Putnam Co. Elem.B · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- Putnam Co. MiddleB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Putnam Co. HighA− · 60% proficient
- Princeton R-v Jr.-sr. HighC+ · 35% proficient
- Mercer HighC− · 27% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lucerne school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lucerne 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 Lucerne against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Lucerne
Is Lucerne a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lucerne ranks 42,137th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, a strong job market, and an educated workforce, and lowest on low incomes and the cost of living against local pay. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Lucerne expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $101,600. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $42,731 median income, cost of living beats 7% of towns.
Is Lucerne safe?
Lucerne is safer than 12% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $599 per resident a year.
Compare Lucerne with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lucerne. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lucerne 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.
Lucerne detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lucerne: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lucerne: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lucerne: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lucerne: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lucerne 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.