Best PlacesPontiac, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Pontiac, 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.
Pontiac ranks 47,143rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and health outcomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Pontiac
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.
Pontiac's strengths and weaknesses
Where Pontiac ranks high
- Cheap childcare$326 a month, better than 99% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 91% of towns
- QuietBetter than 74% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 73% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 67% of towns
Where Pontiac ranks low
- Health outlookBetter than only 1% of towns
- Short commute40.6 minutes each way, better than only 5% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 8% of towns
- Household income$46,438 median, better than only 8% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 9% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Pontiac
A household needs to earn about $44,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Pontiac home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $46,438, 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 Pontiac's effective rate of 0.37%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Pontiac
Pontiac runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Pontiac.
Who works in Pontiac, and how
Work in Pontiac centers on manufacturing and health care & social. 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 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Pontiac
Pontiac has more restaurants and bars per resident than 99% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Pontiac and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Pontiac, month by month
Pontiac sees roughly 79 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 47, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47° | 37° | 29° |
| April | 71° | 59° | 48° |
| July | 90° | 79° | 70° |
| October | 73° | 61° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Pontiac
The nearest airport, Branson, is about 35 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 178 miles away.
The best schools in and around Pontiac
Schools across Pontiac average a B−, better than 55% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Thornfield Elem.A− · 58% proficient
- Gainesville Elem.B · 48% proficient
- Lutie Elem.D · 19% proficient
Top high schools
- Gainesville HighB− · 45% proficient
- Lutie HighC · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Pontiac school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Pontiac 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 Pontiac against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Pontiac
Is Pontiac a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Pontiac ranks 47,143rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, low property taxes, and quiet, and lowest on health outcomes and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Pontiac expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $179,739. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $46,438 median income, cost of living beats 9% of towns.
Is Pontiac safe?
Pontiac is safer than 49% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $396 per resident a year.
Compare Pontiac with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Pontiac. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Pontiac 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.
Pontiac detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Pontiac: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Pontiac: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Pontiac: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Pontiac: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Pontiac 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.