Best PlacesRaytown, MS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Raytown, 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.
Raytown ranks 43,774th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Raytown
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.
Raytown's strengths and weaknesses
Where Raytown ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- QuietBetter than 92% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 85% of towns
- Cheap childcare$649 a month, better than 73% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 73% of towns
Where Raytown ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 6% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 7% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 8% of towns
- Short commute37.5 minutes each way, better than only 9% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Raytown
A household needs to earn about $39,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Raytown home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $53,173, 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 Raytown's effective rate of 0.54%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Raytown
Raytown runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Raytown.
Who works in Raytown, and how
Work in Raytown centers on manufacturing and professional & technical. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Raytown
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Raytown.
What the weather is like in Raytown, month by month
Raytown sees roughly 75 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 61, with lows near 36. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 61° | 47° | 36° |
| April | 80° | 65° | 52° |
| July | 94° | 82° | 73° |
| October | 83° | 68° | 55° |
Flying in and out of Raytown
The nearest airport, Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers International, is about 31 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 162 miles away.
The best schools in and around Raytown
Schools across Raytown average a C+, better than 50% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Luther Branson SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Camden ElementaryC+ · 37% proficient
Top middle schools
- Shirley D. Simmons Middle SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Velma Jackson High SchoolC · 32% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Raytown school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Raytown 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 Raytown against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Raytown
Is Raytown a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Raytown ranks 43,774th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on tree cover, quiet, and civic engagement, and lowest on state infrastructure and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Raytown expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $156,009. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $53,173 median income, cost of living beats 10% of towns.
Is Raytown safe?
Raytown is safer than 32% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $209 per resident a year.
Compare Raytown with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Raytown. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Raytown 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.
Raytown detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Raytown: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Raytown: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Raytown: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Raytown: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Raytown 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.