Best PlacesOzark, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Ozark, 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.
Ozark ranks 1,081st of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Ozark
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's strengths and weaknesses
Where Ozark ranks high
- Cheap childcare$530 a month, better than 98% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than 88% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than 86% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than 80% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 76% of cities
Where Ozark ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 1% of cities
- BikingBetter than only 4% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than only 7% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than only 10% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 62 pleasant days a year, better than only 12% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Ozark
A household needs to earn about $72,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ozark home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $81,726, 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'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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Ozark
Ozark runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Ozark.
Who works in Ozark, and how
Work in Ozark centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Ozark
Ozark has more parkland per resident than 79% of cities. That concentrates in some parts of Ozark and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Ozark, month by month
Ozark sees roughly 62 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 47, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47° | 34° | 23° |
| April | 71° | 57° | 44° |
| July | 92° | 79° | 69° |
| October | 74° | 59° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Ozark
The nearest airport, Springfield-Branson Ntl, is about 18 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 177 miles away.
The best schools in and around Ozark
Schools across Ozark average a B+, better than 74% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- John Thomas School Of DiscoverA+ · 73% proficient
- East Elem.A · 70% proficient
- North Elem.A · 67% proficient
Top middle schools
- Ozark Middle SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Summit Intermediate SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Cherokee MiddleA− · 54% proficient
Top high schools
- Nixa HighA · 70% proficient
- Ozark HighB+ · 53% proficient
- Kickapoo HighB · 49% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Ozark school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ozark 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 against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Ozark suits
Common questions about living in Ozark
Is Ozark a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ozark ranks 1,081st of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on affordable childcare, low crime, and civic engagement, 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 Ozark expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $279,909. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $81,726 median income, cost of living beats 56% of cities.
Is Ozark safe?
Yes, Ozark is safer than 88% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $238 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Ozark?
July highs average about 92 degrees, and January highs near 47 with lows near 23. That works out to about 62 pleasant days a year, more than 12% of cities.
Is Ozark good for families?
Schools beat 74% of cities, crime safety beats 88%, and childcare runs $530 a month.
Compare Ozark with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ozark. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ozark 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 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ozark: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ozark: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ozark: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ozark: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ozark 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.