Best PlacesMoody, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Moody, 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.
Moody ranks 27,215th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and health outcomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Moody
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.
Moody's strengths and weaknesses
Where Moody ranks high
- Cheap childcare$369 a month, better than 99% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 97% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 93% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 80% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 77% of towns
Where Moody ranks low
- Health outlookBetter than only 8% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 10% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 12% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 13% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Moody
A household needs to earn about $57,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Moody home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $67,984, 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 Moody's effective rate of 0.34%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Moody
Moody 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 Moody.
Who works in Moody, and how
Work in Moody centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 96%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 0%
Life in Moody
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Moody.
What the weather is like in Moody, month by month
Moody sees roughly 71 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 45, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45° | 35° | 27° |
| April | 70° | 57° | 47° |
| July | 90° | 79° | 69° |
| October | 72° | 60° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Moody
The nearest airport, Branson, is about 68 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 153 miles away.
The best schools in and around Moody
Schools across Moody average a B−, better than 55% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- South Fork Elem.B · 48% proficient
Top middle schools
- West Plains MiddleC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- West Plains Sr. HighB− · 44% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Moody school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Moody 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 Moody against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Moody
Is Moody a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Moody ranks 27,215th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, clean air, and low property taxes, and lowest on health outcomes and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Moody expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $232,000. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $67,984 median income, cost of living beats 60% of towns.
Is Moody safe?
Yes, Moody is safer than 77% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $262 per resident a year.
Compare Moody with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Moody. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Moody 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.
Moody detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Moody: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Moody: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Moody: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Moody: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Moody 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.