Best PlacesMcElhany, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around McElhany, 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.
McElhany ranks 33,056th 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 McElhany
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.
McElhany's strengths and weaknesses
Where McElhany ranks high
- Cheap childcare$445 a month, better than 97% of towns
- Short commute20.4 minutes each way, better than 86% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 82% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 73% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 69% of towns
Where McElhany ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 8% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 12% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 18% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 19% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 24% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in McElhany
A household needs to earn about $45,000 a year to comfortably buy the median McElhany home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $66,159, 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 McElhany's effective rate of 0.57%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in McElhany
McElhany runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for McElhany.
Who works in McElhany, and how
Work in McElhany centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in McElhany
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across McElhany.
What the weather is like in McElhany, month by month
McElhany sees roughly 77 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 45, with lows near 28. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45° | 35° | 28° |
| April | 68° | 56° | 47° |
| July | 89° | 78° | 69° |
| October | 71° | 59° | 50° |
Flying in and out of McElhany
The nearest airport, Joplin Regional, is about 25 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 173 miles away.
The best schools in and around McElhany
Schools across McElhany average a C+, better than 48% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- South Elem.B− · 43% proficient
- Goodman Elem.B− · 43% proficient
- Benton Elem.C+ · 37% proficient
Top middle schools
- Neosho Jr. HighB− · 42% proficient
Top high schools
- Neosho HighC · 31% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every McElhany school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
McElhany 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 McElhany against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in McElhany
Is McElhany a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, McElhany ranks 33,056th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, short commutes, and few empty homes, and lowest on a weak job market and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is McElhany expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $177,206. The overall cost of living runs about 22% below the national average. Set against a $66,159 median income, cost of living beats 54% of towns.
Is McElhany safe?
McElhany is safer than 40% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $393 per resident a year.
Compare McElhany with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to McElhany. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in McElhany 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.
McElhany detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for McElhany: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in McElhany: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of McElhany: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in McElhany: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
McElhany 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.