Best PlacesMiddlebrook, AR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Middlebrook, 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.
Middlebrook ranks 47,713th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and the cost of living against local pay is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Middlebrook
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.
Middlebrook's strengths and weaknesses
Where Middlebrook ranks high
- Cheap childcare$481 a month, better than 94% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 90% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 85% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 81% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 77% of towns
Where Middlebrook ranks low
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- Household income$36,503 median, better than only 3% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 6% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 12% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 12% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Middlebrook
A household needs to earn about $23,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Middlebrook home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $36,503, 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 Middlebrook's effective rate of 0.38%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Middlebrook
Middlebrook 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 Middlebrook.
Who works in Middlebrook, and how
Work in Middlebrook centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Middlebrook
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Middlebrook.
What the weather is like in Middlebrook, month by month
Middlebrook sees roughly 73 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 47, with lows near 31. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47° | 38° | 31° |
| April | 72° | 60° | 50° |
| July | 91° | 81° | 73° |
| October | 76° | 62° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Middlebrook
The nearest airport, Cape Girardeau Regional, is about 92 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 112 miles away.
The best schools in and around Middlebrook
Schools across Middlebrook average a D+, better than 14% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Maynard Elementary SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Maynard High SchoolD · 23% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Middlebrook school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Middlebrook 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 Middlebrook against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Middlebrook
Is Middlebrook a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Middlebrook ranks 47,713th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, low property taxes, and state finances, and lowest on the cost of living against local pay and low incomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Middlebrook expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $94,434. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $36,503 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Middlebrook safe?
Middlebrook is safer than 48% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $462 per resident a year.
Compare Middlebrook with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Middlebrook. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Middlebrook 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.
Middlebrook detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Middlebrook: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Middlebrook: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Middlebrook: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Middlebrook: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Middlebrook 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.