Best PlacesOzark County, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Ozark County, 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.
Ozark County ranks 2,999th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and biking ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Ozark 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.
Ozark County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Ozark County ranks high
- Cheap childcare$326 a month, better than 99% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 90% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 90% of counties
- QuietBetter than 88% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 86% of counties
Where Ozark County ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 1% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than only 1% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 3% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 3% of counties
- Household income$48,158 median, better than only 6% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Ozark County
A household needs to earn about $44,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ozark County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $48,158, 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 Ozark County's effective rate of 0.42%, 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 Ozark County
Ozark County 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 Ozark County.
Who works in Ozark County, and how
Work in Ozark County centers on manufacturing and education. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Ozark County
Ozark County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 95% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Ozark County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Ozark County growing, and who is moving in?
Ozark County has lost about 4% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Howell County, MO.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Ozark County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Ozark County, month by month
Ozark County sees roughly 78 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 47, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47° | 37° | 29° |
| April | 71° | 59° | 48° |
| July | 90° | 79° | 70° |
| October | 73° | 61° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Ozark County
The nearest airport, Branson, is about 44 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 175 miles away.
The best schools in and around Ozark County
Schools across Ozark County average a B−, better than 65% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Mark Twain Elem.A · 65% proficient
- Thornfield Elem.A− · 58% proficient
- Dora Elem.B+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Ava MiddleB− · 41% proficient
Top high schools
- Gainesville HighB− · 45% proficient
- Ava HighB− · 42% proficient
- Bakersfield HighC+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Ozark County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ozark 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 Ozark County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Ozark County
Is Ozark County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ozark County ranks 2,999th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on affordable childcare, tree cover, and low property taxes, and lowest on biking and health outcomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Ozark County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $175,688. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $48,158 median income, cost of living beats 7% of counties.
Is Ozark County safe?
Ozark County is safer than 18% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $599 per resident a year.
Compare Ozark County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ozark County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ozark 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.
Ozark County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ozark County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ozark County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ozark County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ozark County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ozark 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.