Best PlacesNevada, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Nevada, 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.
Nevada ranks 33,917th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Nevada
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.
Nevada's strengths and weaknesses
Where Nevada ranks high
- Cheap childcare$407 a month, better than 98% of towns
- Short commute16.2 minutes each way, better than 96% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 93% of towns
- BikingBetter than 84% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 84% of towns
Where Nevada ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 11% of towns
- Household income$53,889 median, better than only 17% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 20% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 26% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 27% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Nevada
A household needs to earn about $42,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Nevada home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $53,889, 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 Nevada's effective rate of 0.75%, 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 Nevada
Nevada's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Nevada.
Who works in Nevada, and how
Work in Nevada centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Nevada
Nevada has more restaurants and bars per resident than 78% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Nevada and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Nevada, month by month
Nevada sees roughly 103 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 46, 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 | 46° | 33° | 25° |
| April | 71° | 57° | 46° |
| July | 90° | 78° | 68° |
| October | 73° | 58° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Nevada
The nearest airport, Joplin Regional, is about 48 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 103 miles away.
The best schools in and around Nevada
Schools across Nevada average a C+, better than 50% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Truman Elem.C+ · 37% proficient
- Bronaugh Elem.D+ · 22% proficient
- Northeast Vernon Co. R-i Elem.D · 19% proficient
Top middle schools
- Nevada MiddleB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Nevada HighC+ · 38% proficient
- Northeast Vernon Co. R-i HighD · 18% proficient
- Bronaugh HighD− · 15% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Nevada school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Nevada 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 Nevada against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Nevada
Is Nevada a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Nevada ranks 33,917th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, short commutes, and cell coverage, and lowest on noise and low incomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Nevada expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $162,336. The overall cost of living runs about 26% below the national average. Set against a $53,889 median income, cost of living beats 31% of towns.
Is Nevada safe?
Nevada is safer than 27% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $500 per resident a year.
Compare Nevada with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Nevada. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Nevada 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.
Nevada detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Nevada: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Nevada: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Nevada: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Nevada: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Nevada 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.