Best PlacesMilan, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Milan, 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.
Milan ranks 31,662nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and empty homes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Milan
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.
Milan's strengths and weaknesses
Where Milan ranks high
- Short commute13.5 minutes each way, better than 98% of towns
- Cheap childcare$408 a month, better than 98% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 92% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 136 pleasant days a year, better than 88% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 88% of towns
Where Milan ranks low
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 11% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 12% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 15% of towns
- Household income$57,910 median, better than only 24% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Milan
A household needs to earn about $32,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Milan home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $57,910, 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 Milan's effective rate of 0.66%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Milan
Milan's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Milan.
Who works in Milan, and how
Work in Milan centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 94%
- Work from home 3%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Milan
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Milan.
What the weather is like in Milan, month by month
Milan sees roughly 136 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 27° | 20° |
| April | 66° | 53° | 43° |
| July | 87° | 76° | 67° |
| October | 69° | 56° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Milan
The nearest airport, Kirksville Regional, is about 32 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 105 miles away.
The best schools in and around Milan
Schools across Milan average a C−, better than 24% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Putnam Co. Elem.B · 45% proficient
- Green City Elem.C · 32% proficient
- Milan Elem.C− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Putnam Co. MiddleB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Putnam Co. HighA− · 60% proficient
- Green City HighB− · 45% proficient
- Newtown-harris HighC− · 29% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Milan school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Milan 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 Milan against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Milan
Is Milan a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Milan ranks 31,662nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on short commutes, affordable childcare, and walkability, and lowest on empty homes and thin health care access. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Milan expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $125,666. The overall cost of living runs about 25% below the national average. Set against a $57,910 median income, cost of living beats 39% of towns.
Is Milan safe?
Milan is safer than 12% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $626 per resident a year.
Compare Milan with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Milan. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Milan 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.
Milan detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Milan: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Milan: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Milan: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Milan: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Milan 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.