Best PlacesMissouri Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Missouri, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Missouri ranks 45th of 50 U.S. states on the BestNeighborhood index. It ranks low mainly on crime and noise. It does better on affordable childcare, which keeps it off the bottom.
The best neighborhoods in Missouri
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.
The best areas in Missouri
The counties of Missouri, grouped by direction and ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood in each. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the state.
Cass County & Johnson County
Crime runs lower, fewer homes sit empty, and disaster risk is lower.
St. Louis County, St. Charles County & St. Louis City
Big-city amenities are closer and local pay stretches further.
Jackson County & Clay County
Advertised internet is faster.
Boone County, Cole County & Pettis County
It is quieter and tree cover is thicker.
Lincoln County, Marion County & Pike County
Homes cost less, though fewer adults hold degrees.
Greene County & Christian County
Incomes run lower and prices have run up more.
Adair County, Randolph County & Saline County
Biking is worse.
Jasper County, Newton County & Lawrence County
More households have young kids, though health outcomes score lower.
Cape Girardeau County, St. Francois County & Butler County
Heat risk is higher.
Missouri shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 1% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Missouri's strengths and weaknesses
Missouri ranks near the bottom because several of the basics fall short at once. Affordable childcare, state finances, and a stable housing market carry most of that.
The weak spots are broad rather than narrow: crime, noise, and health outcomes all drag on the score. Those are area averages, and the map below shows which parts run well above them.
Where Missouri ranks high
- Cheap childcare$694 a month, better than 93% of states
- State fiscal healthBetter than 75% of states
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 72% of states
- Internet speedBetter than 68% of states
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 65% of states
Where Missouri ranks low
- Crime safetyBetter than only 5% of states
- QuietBetter than only 6% of states
- Health outlookBetter than only 19% of states
- Household income$79,712 median, better than only 25% of states
- BikingBetter than only 25% of states
What it costs to buy a home in Missouri
A household needs to earn about $65,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Missouri home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $79,712, 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 Missouri's effective rate of 0.88%, 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 Missouri
Missouri'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 Missouri.
Who works in Missouri, and how
Work in Missouri centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Missouri
Missouri has more restaurants and bars per resident than 65% of states and more parkland per resident than 65% of states. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Missouri and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Missouri, month by month
Missouri sees roughly 74 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 33° | 24° |
| April | 72° | 58° | 46° |
| July | 93° | 81° | 71° |
| October | 74° | 61° | 50° |
The best schools in and around Missouri
Schools across Missouri average a C+, better than 39% of states.
Top elementary schools
- Mallinckrodt A.b.i. Elem.A+ · 90% proficient
- Mound City Elem.A+ · 88% proficient
- Epic ElementaryA+ · 85% proficient
Top middle schools
- Wydown MiddleA+ · 70% proficient
- Blair Oaks Middle SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Rockwood Valley MiddleA · 64% proficient
Top high schools
- Collegiate School Of Med/bioA · 75% proficient
- Metro HighA · 74% proficient
- Kirkwood Sr. HighA · 71% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Missouri school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Missouri 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 Missouri against the other 49 states.
Who Missouri suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 13% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Missouri
Is Missouri a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Missouri ranks 45th of 50 states. It scores highest on affordable childcare, state finances, and a stable housing market, and lowest on crime and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Missouri expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $246,877. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $79,712 median income, cost of living beats 65% of states.
Is Missouri safe?
Missouri is safer than 5% of states. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $565 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Missouri?
July highs average about 93 degrees, and January highs near 44 with lows near 24. That works out to about 74 pleasant days a year, more than 39% of states.
What are the best areas in Missouri?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Cass County & Johnson County, St. Louis County, St. Charles County & St. Louis City, and Jackson County & Clay County. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Missouri good for families?
Schools beat 39% of states, crime safety beats 5%, and childcare runs $694 a month.
Is Missouri good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 65% of states, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 68% of states. About 13% of workers already work from home.
Compare Missouri with other states
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Missouri. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Missouri 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.
Missouri detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Missouri: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Missouri: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Missouri: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Missouri: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Missouri 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.
- 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.