Best PlacesMiddle Brook, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Middle Brook, 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.
Middle Brook ranks 46,486th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Middle Brook
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.
Middle Brook's strengths and weaknesses
Where Middle Brook ranks high
- Cheap childcare$401 a month, better than 99% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 82% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 76% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 73% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 61% of towns
Where Middle Brook ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 4% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 59 pleasant days a year, better than only 7% of towns
- Household income$45,597 median, better than only 8% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 11% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 11% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Middle Brook
A household needs to earn about $31,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Middle Brook home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $45,597, 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 Middle Brook's effective rate of 0.51%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Middle Brook
Middle Brook 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 Middle Brook.
Who works in Middle Brook, and how
Work in Middle Brook centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 94%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Middle Brook
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Middle Brook.
What the weather is like in Middle Brook, month by month
Middle Brook sees roughly 59 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 33° | 25° |
| April | 69° | 56° | 46° |
| July | 88° | 78° | 69° |
| October | 71° | 58° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Middle Brook
The nearest airport, Cape Girardeau Regional, is about 69 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 80 miles away.
The best schools in and around Middle Brook
Schools across Middle Brook average a C, better than 35% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lesterville ElementaryB− · 42% proficient
- Arcadia Valley Elem.B− · 40% proficient
- South Iron Elem.C · 32% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lincoln IntermediateB · 45% proficient
- Arcadia Valley MiddleC+ · 39% proficient
Top high schools
- Farmington Sr. HighB+ · 57% proficient
- Arcadia Valley HighB− · 43% proficient
- Lesterville High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Middle Brook school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Middle Brook 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 Middle Brook against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Middle Brook
Is Middle Brook a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Middle Brook ranks 46,486th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, tree cover, and low property taxes, and lowest on cell coverage and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Middle Brook expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $123,350. The overall cost of living runs about 22% below the national average. Set against a $45,597 median income, cost of living beats 13% of towns.
Is Middle Brook safe?
Middle Brook is safer than 31% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $441 per resident a year.
Compare Middle Brook with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Middle Brook. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Middle Brook 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.
Middle Brook detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Middle Brook: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Middle Brook: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Middle Brook: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Middle Brook: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Middle Brook 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.