Best PlacesMarshall Junction, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Marshall Junction, 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.
Marshall Junction ranks 24,118th 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 Marshall Junction
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.
Marshall Junction's strengths and weaknesses
Where Marshall Junction ranks high
- Cheap childcare$423 a month, better than 98% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 86% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 75% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 73% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 73% of towns
Where Marshall Junction ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 7% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 15% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 19% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 20% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Marshall Junction
A household needs to earn about $48,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Marshall Junction home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $82,041, 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 Marshall Junction's effective rate of 0.61%, 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 Marshall Junction
Marshall Junction runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Marshall Junction.
Who works in Marshall Junction, and how
Work in Marshall Junction centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Marshall Junction
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Marshall Junction.
What the weather is like in Marshall Junction, month by month
Marshall Junction sees roughly 90 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 Marshall Junction
The nearest airport, Columbia Regional, is about 53 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 85 miles away.
The best schools in and around Marshall Junction
Schools across Marshall Junction average a C, better than 34% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Sweet Springs Elem.B · 48% proficient
- Blackwater Elem.C+ · 37% proficient
- Northwest Elem.D+ · 24% proficient
Top middle schools
- Bueker MiddleD · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- Northwest HighB− · 43% proficient
- Sweet Springs HighD+ · 25% proficient
- Marshall Sr. HighD · 19% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Marshall Junction school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Marshall Junction 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 Marshall Junction against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Marshall Junction
Is Marshall Junction a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Marshall Junction ranks 24,118th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, low disaster risk, and what local pay buys, and lowest on air quality and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Marshall Junction expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $187,548. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $82,041 median income, cost of living beats 75% of towns.
Is Marshall Junction safe?
Yes, Marshall Junction is safer than 73% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $325 per resident a year.
Compare Marshall Junction with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Marshall Junction. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Marshall Junction 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.
Marshall Junction detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Marshall Junction: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Marshall Junction: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Marshall Junction: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Marshall Junction: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Marshall Junction 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.