Best PlacesParadise, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Paradise, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Paradise ranks 1,133rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Paradise
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.
Paradise's strengths and weaknesses
Where Paradise ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 99% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 97% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 96% of towns
- Household income$126,117 median, better than 94% of towns
Where Paradise ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 18% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 23% of towns
- Cheap childcare$942 a month, better than only 31% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 40% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 41% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Paradise
A household needs to earn about $93,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Paradise home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $126,117, 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 Paradise's effective rate of 0.67%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Paradise
Paradise runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Paradise.
Who works in Paradise, and how
Work in Paradise centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Paradise
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Paradise.
What the weather is like in Paradise, month by month
Paradise sees roughly 93 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 39, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39° | 30° | 23° |
| April | 67° | 54° | 44° |
| July | 88° | 77° | 68° |
| October | 69° | 56° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Paradise
Kansas City International sits about 15 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 5.7 million passengers in 2025, with 104 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Paradise
Schools across Paradise average a B+, better than 81% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Horizon ElementaryA · 67% proficient
- Dogwood Elem.A− · 61% proficient
- Ellis Elem.C · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- Kearney MiddleA− · 57% proficient
- Smithville MiddleB+ · 49% proficient
- Clinton Co. R-iii MiddleC− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- Kearney HighB+ · 57% proficient
- Smithville HighB · 50% proficient
- Plattsburg HighD · 19% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Paradise school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Paradise 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 Paradise against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Paradise
Is Paradise a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Paradise ranks 1,133rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a strong job market, few empty homes, and low crime, and lowest on air quality and car insurance costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Paradise expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $361,528. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $126,117 median income, cost of living beats 96% of towns.
Is Paradise safe?
Yes, Paradise is safer than 97% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $179 per resident a year.
Compare Paradise with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Paradise. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Paradise 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.
Paradise detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Paradise: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Paradise: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Paradise: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Paradise: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Paradise 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.