Best PlacesMaries County, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Maries 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.
Maries County ranks 2,632nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Maries 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.
Maries County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Maries County ranks high
- Cheap childcare$425 a month, better than 98% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 86% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 86% of counties
- QuietBetter than 82% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 68% of counties
Where Maries County ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 3% of counties
- Short commute34.6 minutes each way, better than only 4% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 7% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 16% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 22% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Maries County
A household needs to earn about $54,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Maries County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $59,366, 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 Maries County's effective rate of 0.45%, 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 Maries County
Maries County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Maries County.
Who works in Maries County, and how
Work in Maries County centers on construction and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Maries County
Maries County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and more parkland per resident than 69% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Maries County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Maries County growing, and who is moving in?
Maries County has lost about 6% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Phelps County, MO.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Maries County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Maries County, month by month
Maries County sees roughly 73 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 42, 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 | 42° | 32° | 24° |
| April | 68° | 55° | 45° |
| July | 89° | 78° | 68° |
| October | 70° | 58° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Maries County
The nearest airport, Waynesville-St Robert Regional Forney Field, is about 33 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 91 miles away.
The best schools in and around Maries County
Schools across Maries County average a C, better than 32% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- St. Elizabeth Elem.A · 67% proficient
- Lucy Wortham James Elem.B+ · 50% proficient
- Col. John B. Wyman Elem.B · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Rolla MiddleB− · 41% proficient
- St. James MiddleC+ · 36% proficient
- Maries Co. MiddleC− · 28% proficient
Top high schools
- St. Elizabeth HighA · 70% proficient
- St. James HighB · 50% proficient
- Rolla Sr. HighB− · 43% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Maries County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Maries 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 Maries County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Maries County
Is Maries County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Maries County ranks 2,632nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on affordable childcare, low property taxes, and a strong job market, and lowest on internet speeds and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Maries County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $216,370. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $59,366 median income, cost of living beats 31% of counties.
Is Maries County safe?
Maries County is safer than 36% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $447 per resident a year.
Compare Maries County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Maries County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Maries 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.
Maries County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Maries County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Maries County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Maries County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Maries County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Maries 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.