Best PlacesPerry County, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Perry 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.
Perry County ranks 2,169th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Perry 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.
Perry County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Perry County ranks high
- Cheap childcare$451 a month, better than 97% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 82% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 70% of counties
- Short commute21.3 minutes each way, better than 70% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 70% of counties
Where Perry County ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 55 pleasant days a year, better than only 2% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 7% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 20% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 24% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 26% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Perry County
A household needs to earn about $47,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Perry County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $62,918, 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 Perry County's effective rate of 0.59%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Perry County
Perry 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 Perry County.
Who works in Perry County, and how
Work in Perry County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Perry County
Perry County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 97% of counties and more parkland per resident than 86% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Perry County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Perry County growing, and who is moving in?
Perry County has held roughly flat in population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Cape Girardeau, MO.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Perry County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Perry County, month by month
Perry County sees roughly 55 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 33° | 25° |
| April | 69° | 56° | 46° |
| July | 88° | 78° | 69° |
| October | 71° | 58° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Perry County
The nearest airport, Cape Girardeau Regional, is about 37 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 77 miles away.
The best schools in and around Perry County
Schools across Perry County average a C+, better than 46% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Altenburg Elem.B+ · 52% proficient
- Fredericktown IntermediateB− · 42% proficient
- Perryville Elem.C · 33% proficient
Top middle schools
- Kelly A Burlison Middle SchoolB− · 39% proficient
- Perry Co. MiddleC · 33% proficient
Top high schools
- Perryville Sr. HighC+ · 40% proficient
- Fredericktown HighC+ · 35% proficient
- Oak Ridge HighC · 32% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Perry County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Perry 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 Perry County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Perry County
Is Perry County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Perry County ranks 2,169th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on affordable childcare, civic engagement, and few empty homes, and lowest on the weather and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Perry County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $187,167. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $62,918 median income, cost of living beats 49% of counties.
Is Perry County safe?
Yes, Perry County is safer than 69% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $341 per resident a year.
Compare Perry County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Perry County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Perry 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.
Perry County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Perry County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Perry County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Perry County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Perry County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Perry 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.