Best PlacesMiller County, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Miller County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Miller County ranks 2,468th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Miller County
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.
Miller County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Miller County ranks high
- Cheap childcare$408 a month, better than 98% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 88% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 74% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 73% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 68% of counties
Where Miller County ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 7% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 14% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 16% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 22% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 26% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Miller County
A household needs to earn about $51,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Miller County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $59,987, 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 Miller County's effective rate of 0.56%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Miller County
Miller County's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Miller County.
Who works in Miller County, and how
Work in Miller County centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Miller County
Miller County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 65% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Miller County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Miller County growing, and who is moving in?
Miller County has grown about 3% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Camden County, MO.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Miller County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Miller County, month by month
Miller County sees roughly 74 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 33° | 25° |
| April | 70° | 57° | 46° |
| July | 89° | 78° | 68° |
| October | 71° | 58° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Miller County
The nearest airport, Waynesville-St Robert Regional Forney Field, is about 40 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 121 miles away.
The best schools in and around Miller County
Schools across Miller County average a B−, better than 65% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- St. Elizabeth Elem.A · 67% proficient
- Eldon Upper Elem.B+ · 52% proficient
- Fatima Elem.B+ · 52% proficient
Top middle schools
- Eldon MiddleB · 47% proficient
- Osage MiddleB− · 41% proficient
Top high schools
- St. Elizabeth HighA · 70% proficient
- Eldon HighB · 48% proficient
- Osage HighB− · 45% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Miller County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Miller County 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 Miller County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Miller County suits
Common questions about living in Miller County
Is Miller County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Miller County ranks 2,468th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on affordable childcare, a strong job market, and civic engagement, and lowest on internet speeds and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Miller County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $201,708. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $59,987 median income, cost of living beats 26% of counties.
Is Miller County safe?
Miller County is safer than 32% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $477 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Miller County?
July highs average about 89 degrees, and January highs near 44 with lows near 25. That works out to about 74 pleasant days a year, more than 29% of counties.
Is Miller County good for families?
Schools beat 65% of counties, crime safety beats 32%, and childcare runs $408 a month.
Compare Miller County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Miller County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Miller County 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.
Miller County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Miller County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Miller County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Miller County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Miller County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Miller County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.