Best PlacesRalls County, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Ralls County, 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.
Ralls County ranks 1,794th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on fast internet by a wide margin, and biking ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Ralls 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.
Ralls County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Ralls County ranks high
- Internet speedBetter than 99% of counties
- Cheap childcare$457 a month, better than 97% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 90% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 72% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 71% of counties
Where Ralls County ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 7% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 15% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than only 22% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 23% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 23% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Ralls County
A household needs to earn about $42,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ralls County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $72,217, 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 Ralls County's effective rate of 0.66%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Ralls County
Ralls County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Ralls County.
Who works in Ralls County, and how
Work in Ralls County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Ralls County
Ralls County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Ralls County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Ralls County growing, and who is moving in?
Ralls County has grown about 2% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Marion County, MO.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Ralls County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Ralls County, month by month
Ralls County sees roughly 94 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 39, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39° | 30° | 24° |
| April | 67° | 55° | 45° |
| July | 88° | 77° | 68° |
| October | 69° | 58° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Ralls County
The nearest airport, Quincy Regional-Baldwin Field, is about 29 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 82 miles away.
The best schools in and around Ralls County
Schools across Ralls County average a C+, better than 50% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Oakwood Elem.A · 65% proficient
- Frankford Elem.B+ · 53% proficient
- Monroe City Elem.B · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Monroe City MiddleB · 45% proficient
- Bowling Green MiddleB− · 41% proficient
- Hannibal MiddleC+ · 38% proficient
Top high schools
- Monroe City R-i HighC+ · 38% proficient
- Hannibal Sr. HighC · 32% proficient
- Van-far Jr./sr. HighC · 32% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Ralls County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ralls 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 Ralls County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Ralls County
Is Ralls County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ralls County ranks 1,794th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on fast internet, affordable childcare, and low disaster risk, and lowest on biking and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Ralls County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $163,850. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $72,217 median income, cost of living beats 46% of counties.
Is Ralls County safe?
Ralls County is safer than 41% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $464 per resident a year.
Compare Ralls County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ralls County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ralls 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.
Ralls County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ralls County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ralls County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ralls County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ralls County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ralls 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.