Best PlacesLusk, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Lusk, 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.
Lusk ranks 44,167th 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 Lusk
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.
Lusk's strengths and weaknesses
Where Lusk ranks high
- Cheap childcare$385 a month, better than 99% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 93% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 73% of towns
- Short commute23.6 minutes each way, better than 71% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 62% of towns
Where Lusk ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 6% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 59 pleasant days a year, better than only 6% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 8% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 13% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Lusk
A household needs to earn about $35,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lusk home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $68,096, 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 Lusk's effective rate of 0.86%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Lusk
Lusk's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Lusk.
Who works in Lusk, and how
Work in Lusk centers on transportation & warehousing and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 95%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Lusk
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Lusk.
What the weather is like in Lusk, month by month
Lusk sees roughly 59 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 36° | 29° |
| April | 70° | 59° | 49° |
| July | 89° | 79° | 71° |
| October | 73° | 60° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Lusk
The nearest airport, Cape Girardeau Regional, is about 18 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 132 miles away.
The best schools in and around Lusk
Schools across Lusk average a D+, better than 15% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Scott Co. Elem.C− · 30% proficient
- Warren E. Hearnes Elem.D− · 12% proficient
Top middle schools
- Scott Co. MiddleD · 22% proficient
- Charleston Upper ElementaryF · 12% proficient
Top high schools
- Thomas W. Kelly HighC+ · 38% proficient
- Charleston HighD · 19% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lusk school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lusk 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 Lusk against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Lusk
Is Lusk a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lusk ranks 44,167th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, a stable housing market, and state finances, and lowest on biking and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Lusk expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $130,867. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $68,096 median income, cost of living beats 43% of towns.
Is Lusk safe?
Lusk is safer than 13% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $681 per resident a year.
Compare Lusk with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lusk. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lusk 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.
Lusk detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lusk: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lusk: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lusk: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lusk: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lusk 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.