Best PlacesNumber Eight, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Number Eight, 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.
Number Eight ranks 23,025th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Number Eight
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.
Number Eight's strengths and weaknesses
Where Number Eight ranks high
- Cheap childcare$412 a month, better than 98% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 75% of towns
- Short commute23.2 minutes each way, better than 73% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 73% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 71% of towns
Where Number Eight ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 18% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 20% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 22% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 27% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Number Eight
A household needs to earn about $35,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Number Eight home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $73,785, 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 Number Eight's effective rate of 0.71%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Number Eight
Number Eight 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 Number Eight.
Who works in Number Eight, and how
Work in Number Eight centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Number Eight
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Number Eight.
What the weather is like in Number Eight, month by month
Number Eight sees roughly 78 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 26° | 19° |
| April | 65° | 52° | 41° |
| July | 87° | 76° | 66° |
| October | 68° | 55° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Number Eight
The nearest airport, Kirksville Regional, is about 25 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 119 miles away.
The best schools in and around Number Eight
Schools across Number Eight average a C, better than 38% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Macon ElementaryB− · 42% proficient
- Bevier Elem.C− · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Macon Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
Top high schools
- Macon Senior HighB− · 45% proficient
- Bevier HighC · 32% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Number Eight school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Number Eight 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 Number Eight against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Number Eight
Is Number Eight a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Number Eight ranks 23,025th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, what local pay buys, and short commutes, and lowest on distance from a big city and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Number Eight expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $136,990. The overall cost of living runs about 23% below the national average. Set against a $73,785 median income, cost of living beats 75% of towns.
Is Number Eight safe?
Yes, Number Eight is safer than 67% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $295 per resident a year.
Compare Number Eight with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Number Eight. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Number Eight 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.
Number Eight detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Number Eight: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Number Eight: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Number Eight: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Number Eight: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Number Eight 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.