Best PlacesMatson, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Matson, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Matson ranks 4,634th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on what local pay buys by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Matson
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.
Matson's strengths and weaknesses
Where Matson ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 99% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 98% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 98% of towns
- Household income$146,979 median, better than 97% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 94% of towns
Where Matson ranks low
- Short commute33.8 minutes each way, better than only 17% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 22% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 70 pleasant days a year, better than only 26% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 30% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Matson
A household needs to earn about $140,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Matson home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $146,979, 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 Matson's effective rate of 0.89%, 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 Matson
Matson 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 Matson.
Who works in Matson, and how
Work in Matson centers on manufacturing and professional & technical. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 67%
- Work from home 32%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Matson
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Matson.
What the weather is like in Matson, month by month
Matson sees roughly 70 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 42, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42° | 32° | 24° |
| April | 70° | 57° | 45° |
| July | 90° | 79° | 69° |
| October | 71° | 58° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Matson
St Louis Lambert International sits about 24 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 7.5 million passengers in 2025, with 114 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Matson
Schools across Matson average a B+, better than 77% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Chesterfield Elem.A+ · 74% proficient
- Daniel Boone Elem.A− · 61% proficient
- Augusta ElementaryB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- Rockwood Valley MiddleA · 64% proficient
- Francis Howell MiddleA · 63% proficient
- Wildwood MiddleA · 62% proficient
Top high schools
- Francis Howell HighB+ · 56% proficient
- Pacific HighC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Matson school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Matson 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 Matson against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Matson
Is Matson a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Matson ranks 4,634th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on what local pay buys, health care access, and civic engagement, and lowest on long commutes and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Matson expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $528,979. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $146,979 median income, cost of living beats 99% of towns.
Is Matson safe?
Matson is safer than 30% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $450 per resident a year.
Compare Matson with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Matson. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Matson 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.
Matson detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Matson: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Matson: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Matson: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Matson: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Matson 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.