Best PlacesPlew, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Plew, 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.
Plew ranks 26,479th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Plew
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.
Plew's strengths and weaknesses
Where Plew ranks high
- Cheap childcare$393 a month, better than 99% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 92% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 80% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 78% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 74% of towns
Where Plew ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 10% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 12% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 16% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- School gradeC−, better than only 23% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Plew
A household needs to earn about $43,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Plew home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $83,108, 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 Plew's effective rate of 0.57%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Plew
Plew runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Plew.
Who works in Plew, and how
Work in Plew centers on health care & social and manufacturing. 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 Plew
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Plew.
What the weather is like in Plew, month by month
Plew sees roughly 78 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 45, with lows near 28. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45° | 35° | 28° |
| April | 68° | 56° | 47° |
| July | 89° | 78° | 69° |
| October | 71° | 59° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Plew
The nearest airport, Joplin Regional, is about 25 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 150 miles away.
The best schools in and around Plew
Schools across Plew average a C−, better than 23% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Central Elem.C · 33% proficient
- Avilla Elem.D+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Jasper Co. High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Miller HighD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Plew school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Plew 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 Plew against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Plew
Is Plew a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Plew ranks 26,479th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, a strong job market, 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 Plew expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $169,291. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $83,108 median income, cost of living beats 74% of towns.
Is Plew safe?
Plew is safer than 38% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $415 per resident a year.
Compare Plew with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Plew. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Plew 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.
Plew detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Plew: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Plew: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Plew: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Plew: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Plew 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.