Best PlacesPurman, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Purman, 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.
Purman ranks 46,732nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and biking ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Purman
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.
Purman's strengths and weaknesses
Where Purman ranks high
- Cheap childcare$347 a month, better than 99% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 93% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 89% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 73% of towns
- QuietBetter than 68% of towns
Where Purman ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 60 pleasant days a year, better than only 8% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 9% of towns
- Short commute36.9 minutes each way, better than only 10% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Purman
A household needs to earn about $36,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Purman home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $57,900, 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 Purman's effective rate of 0.39%, 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 Purman
Purman runs younger than the country, though it still carries a larger-than-average share of residents over 65, 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 Purman.
Who works in Purman, and how
Work in Purman centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Purman
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Purman.
What the weather is like in Purman, month by month
Purman sees roughly 60 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 46, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 46° | 36° | 29° |
| April | 71° | 59° | 49° |
| July | 90° | 80° | 71° |
| October | 74° | 60° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Purman
The nearest airport, Cape Girardeau Regional, is about 80 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 112 miles away.
The best schools in and around Purman
Schools across Purman average a C, better than 36% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Naylor Elem.C · 32% proficient
Top middle schools
- Doniphan MiddleD+ · 24% proficient
Top high schools
- Doniphan HighB− · 42% proficient
- Naylor High SchoolC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Purman school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Purman 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 Purman against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Purman
Is Purman a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Purman ranks 46,732nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, clean air, and low property taxes, and lowest on biking and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Purman expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $146,155. The overall cost of living runs about 22% below the national average. Set against a $57,900 median income, cost of living beats 29% of towns.
Is Purman safe?
Purman is safer than 17% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $539 per resident a year.
Compare Purman with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Purman. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Purman 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.
Purman detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Purman: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Purman: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Purman: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Purman: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Purman 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.