Best PlacesLupus, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Lupus, 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.
Lupus ranks 27,610th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Lupus
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.
Lupus' strengths and weaknesses
Where Lupus ranks high
- Cheap childcare$490 a month, better than 93% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 83% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 83% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 78% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 73% of towns
Where Lupus ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 1% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 59 pleasant days a year, better than only 7% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 17% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Short commute31.4 minutes each way, better than only 27% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Lupus
A household needs to earn about $66,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lupus home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $75,528, 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 Lupus' effective rate of 0.62%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Lupus
Lupus runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Lupus.
Who works in Lupus, and how
Work in Lupus centers on construction and public administration. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Lupus
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Lupus.
What the weather is like in Lupus, month by month
Lupus sees roughly 59 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 22. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 31° | 22° |
| April | 71° | 56° | 44° |
| July | 91° | 79° | 68° |
| October | 73° | 58° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Lupus
The nearest airport, Columbia Regional, is about 13 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 112 miles away.
The best schools in and around Lupus
Schools across Lupus average a C+, better than 52% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Midway Heights Elem.B+ · 53% proficient
- Rock Bridge Elem.B · 46% proficient
- Jamestown C-i Elem.C+ · 37% proficient
Top middle schools
- Ann Hawkins Gentry MiddleB · 44% proficient
Top high schools
- Rock Bridge Sr. HighB+ · 51% proficient
- Jamestown C-i HighC+ · 38% proficient
- Prairie Home HighD+ · 24% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lupus school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lupus 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 Lupus against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Lupus
Is Lupus a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lupus ranks 27,610th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, an educated workforce, and health care access, and lowest on air quality and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Lupus expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $258,819. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $75,528 median income, cost of living beats 64% of towns.
Is Lupus safe?
Lupus is safer than 42% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $437 per resident a year.
Compare Lupus with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lupus. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lupus 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.
Lupus detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lupus: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lupus: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lupus: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lupus: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lupus 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.