Best PlacesOsage County, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Osage 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.
Osage County ranks 1,376th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Osage 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.
Osage County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Osage County ranks high
- Cheap childcare$497 a month, better than 92% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 86% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 85% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 81% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 78% of counties
Where Osage County ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 4% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 6% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 11% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 13% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 13% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Osage County
A household needs to earn about $55,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Osage County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $76,631, 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 Osage County's effective rate of 0.52%, 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 Osage County
Osage 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 Osage County.
Who works in Osage County, and how
Work in Osage County centers on public administration and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Osage County
Osage County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Osage County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Osage County growing, and who is moving in?
Osage County has lost about 1% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Jefferson City, MO metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Osage County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Osage County, month by month
Osage County sees roughly 87 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 Osage County
The nearest airport, Columbia Regional, is about 31 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 84 miles away.
The best schools in and around Osage County
Schools across Osage County average a B−, better than 58% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Fatima Elem.B+ · 52% proficient
- Belle Elem.B · 45% proficient
- Osage Co. Elem.B− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Owensville MiddleB− · 41% proficient
- Maries Co. MiddleC− · 28% proficient
Top high schools
- Linn HighB · 47% proficient
- Chamois HighB · 47% proficient
- Fatima HighC+ · 38% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Osage County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Osage 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 Osage County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Osage County
Is Osage County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Osage County ranks 1,376th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on affordable childcare, low crime, and what local pay buys, and lowest on internet speeds and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Osage County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $217,714. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $76,631 median income, cost of living beats 85% of counties.
Is Osage County safe?
Yes, Osage County is safer than 86% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $303 per resident a year.
Compare Osage County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Osage County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Osage 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.
Osage County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Osage County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Osage County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Osage County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Osage County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Osage 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.