Best PlacesMalta Bend, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Malta Bend, 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.
Malta Bend ranks 36,485th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Malta Bend
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.
Malta Bend's strengths and weaknesses
Where Malta Bend ranks high
- Cheap childcare$422 a month, better than 98% of towns
- Short commute18.0 minutes each way, better than 93% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 90% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 84% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 80% of towns
Where Malta Bend ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 10% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 61 pleasant days a year, better than only 10% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 14% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 21% of towns
- School gradeC−, better than only 22% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Malta Bend
A household needs to earn about $47,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Malta Bend home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $64,100, 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 Malta Bend'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 and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Malta Bend
Malta Bend runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Malta Bend.
Who works in Malta Bend, and how
Work in Malta Bend centers on agriculture & forestry and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Malta Bend
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Malta Bend.
What the weather is like in Malta Bend, month by month
Malta Bend sees roughly 61 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 39, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39° | 30° | 24° |
| April | 67° | 55° | 46° |
| July | 87° | 77° | 68° |
| October | 69° | 57° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Malta Bend
The nearest airport, Columbia Regional, is about 67 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 72 miles away.
The best schools in and around Malta Bend
Schools across Malta Bend average a C−, better than 22% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Santa Fe Elem.C · 34% proficient
- Carrollton Elementary SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Miami Elem.C− · 28% proficient
Top middle schools
- Middle SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top high schools
- Malta Bend High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Santa Fe HighC+ · 37% proficient
- Carrollton Senior HighC · 32% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Malta Bend school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Malta Bend 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 Malta Bend against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Malta Bend
Is Malta Bend a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Malta Bend ranks 36,485th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, short commutes, and low disaster risk, and lowest on internet speeds and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Malta Bend expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $183,373. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $64,100 median income, cost of living beats 43% of towns.
Is Malta Bend safe?
Malta Bend is safer than 14% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $593 per resident a year.
Compare Malta Bend with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Malta Bend. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Malta Bend 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.
Malta Bend detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Malta Bend: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Malta Bend: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Malta Bend: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Malta Bend: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Malta Bend 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.