Best PlacesPonce De Leon, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Ponce De Leon, 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.
Ponce De Leon ranks 21,400th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Ponce De Leon
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.
Ponce De Leon's strengths and weaknesses
Where Ponce De Leon ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 99% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of towns
- Cheap childcare$465 a month, better than 96% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 76% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 73% of towns
Where Ponce De Leon ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 11% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 26% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 26% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 27% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Ponce De Leon
A household needs to earn about $57,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ponce De Leon home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $74,264, 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 Ponce De Leon's effective rate of 0.54%, 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 Ponce De Leon
Ponce De Leon runs older 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 Ponce De Leon.
Who works in Ponce De Leon, and how
Work in Ponce De Leon centers on construction and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Ponce De Leon
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Ponce De Leon.
What the weather is like in Ponce De Leon, month by month
Ponce De Leon sees roughly 81 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 46, 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 | 46° | 36° | 28° |
| April | 70° | 58° | 49° |
| July | 89° | 79° | 70° |
| October | 71° | 60° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Ponce De Leon
The nearest airport, Branson, is about 25 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 183 miles away.
The best schools in and around Ponce De Leon
Schools across Ponce De Leon average a C+, better than 50% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Highlandville Elem.B− · 40% proficient
- Hurley Elem.D+ · 25% proficient
- Galena-abesville Elem.D · 19% proficient
Top middle schools
- Spokane MiddleC+ · 37% proficient
Top high schools
- Nixa HighA · 70% proficient
- Hurley HighC · 34% proficient
- Spokane HighC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Ponce De Leon school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ponce De Leon 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 Ponce De Leon against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Ponce De Leon
Is Ponce De Leon a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ponce De Leon ranks 21,400th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a strong job market, few empty homes, and affordable childcare, and lowest on internet speeds and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Ponce De Leon expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $227,170. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $74,264 median income, cost of living beats 51% of towns.
Is Ponce De Leon safe?
Yes, Ponce De Leon is safer than 72% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $283 per resident a year.
Compare Ponce De Leon with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ponce De Leon. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ponce De Leon 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.
Ponce De Leon detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ponce De Leon: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ponce De Leon: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ponce De Leon: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ponce De Leon: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ponce De Leon 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.