Best PlacesMoniteau County, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Moniteau 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.
Moniteau County ranks 2,227th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Moniteau 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.
Moniteau County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Moniteau County ranks high
- Cheap childcare$479 a month, better than 93% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 79% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 69% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 69% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 66% of counties
Where Moniteau County ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 1% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 8% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 14% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 71 pleasant days a year, better than only 22% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 24% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Moniteau County
A household needs to earn about $47,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Moniteau County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $66,915, 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 Moniteau County's effective rate of 0.62%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Moniteau County
Moniteau 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 Moniteau County.
Who works in Moniteau County, and how
Work in Moniteau County centers on construction and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Moniteau County
Moniteau County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and more parkland per resident than 78% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Moniteau County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Moniteau County growing, and who is moving in?
Moniteau County has lost about 3% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Columbia, MO.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Moniteau County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Moniteau County, month by month
Moniteau County sees roughly 71 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 33° | 25° |
| April | 71° | 57° | 46° |
| July | 90° | 80° | 71° |
| October | 72° | 59° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Moniteau County
The nearest airport, Columbia Regional, is about 25 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 Moniteau County
Schools across Moniteau County average a C+, better than 53% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Eldon Upper Elem.B+ · 52% proficient
- High Point Elem.B · 48% proficient
- Cole Co. R-i Elem.B · 47% proficient
Top middle schools
- California MiddleB · 47% proficient
- Morgan Co. MiddleC · 32% proficient
- Laura Speed Elliott MiddleD+ · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- Eldon HighB · 48% proficient
- Boonville HighB− · 45% proficient
- California HighB− · 42% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Moniteau County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Moniteau 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 Moniteau County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Moniteau County
Is Moniteau County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Moniteau County ranks 2,227th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on affordable childcare, few empty homes, and civic engagement, and lowest on air quality and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Moniteau County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $185,335. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $66,915 median income, cost of living beats 48% of counties.
Is Moniteau County safe?
Moniteau County is safer than 51% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $419 per resident a year.
Compare Moniteau County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Moniteau County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Moniteau 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.
Moniteau County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Moniteau County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Moniteau County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Moniteau County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Moniteau County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Moniteau 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.