Best PlacesMacon County, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Macon County, 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.
Macon County ranks 2,045th 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 Macon 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.
Macon County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Macon County ranks high
- Cheap childcare$412 a month, better than 98% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 79% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 76% of counties
- TransitBetter than 75% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 73% of counties
Where Macon County ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 15% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 23% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 26% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 29% of counties
- Household income$61,516 median, better than only 30% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Macon County
A household needs to earn about $40,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Macon County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $61,516, 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 Macon 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 Macon County
Macon County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Macon County.
Who works in Macon County, and how
Work in Macon 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 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Macon County
Macon County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Macon County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Macon County growing, and who is moving in?
Macon County has lost about 2% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Linn County, MO.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Macon County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Macon County, month by month
Macon County sees roughly 81 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 26° | 19° |
| April | 65° | 52° | 41° |
| July | 87° | 76° | 66° |
| October | 68° | 55° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Macon County
The nearest airport, Kirksville Regional, is about 21 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 122 miles away.
The best schools in and around Macon County
Schools across Macon County average a B−, better than 63% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Atlanta Elem.A · 65% proficient
- Bucklin Elem.A− · 60% proficient
- North Shelby Elem.A− · 58% proficient
Top middle schools
- Macon Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
- South Shelby Middle SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- North Shelby HighA · 68% proficient
- Macon Co. HighB+ · 55% proficient
- Macon Senior HighB− · 45% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Macon County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Macon 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 Macon County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Macon County
Is Macon County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Macon County ranks 2,045th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on affordable childcare, civic engagement, and health care access, and lowest on noise and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Macon County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $156,495. The overall cost of living runs about 23% below the national average. Set against a $61,516 median income, cost of living beats 49% of counties.
Is Macon County safe?
Macon County is safer than 35% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $464 per resident a year.
Compare Macon County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Macon County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Macon 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.
Macon County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Macon County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Macon County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Macon County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Macon County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Macon 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.