Best PlacesMartinstown, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Martinstown, 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.
Martinstown ranks 37,290th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Martinstown
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.
Martinstown's strengths and weaknesses
Where Martinstown ranks high
- Cheap childcare$394 a month, better than 99% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 92% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 82% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 73% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 69% of towns
Where Martinstown ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 3% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 8% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 14% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 14% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Martinstown
A household needs to earn about $26,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Martinstown home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $62,337, 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 Martinstown's effective rate of 0.84%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Martinstown
Martinstown runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Martinstown.
Who works in Martinstown, and how
Work in Martinstown centers on public administration and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Martinstown
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Martinstown.
What the weather is like in Martinstown, month by month
Martinstown sees roughly 85 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 33, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33° | 24° | 18° |
| April | 63° | 50° | 41° |
| July | 85° | 75° | 65° |
| October | 66° | 54° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Martinstown
The nearest airport, Kirksville Regional, is about 25 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 128 miles away.
The best schools in and around Martinstown
Schools across Martinstown average a B, better than 68% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Putnam Co. Elem.B · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- Putnam Co. MiddleB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Putnam Co. HighA− · 60% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Martinstown school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Martinstown 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 Martinstown against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Martinstown
Is Martinstown a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Martinstown ranks 37,290th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, civic engagement, and health care access, and lowest on a weak job market and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Martinstown expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $98,556. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $62,337 median income, cost of living beats 45% of towns.
Is Martinstown safe?
Martinstown is safer than 24% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $482 per resident a year.
Compare Martinstown with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Martinstown. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Martinstown 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.
Martinstown detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Martinstown: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Martinstown: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Martinstown: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Martinstown: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Martinstown 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.