Best PlacesReeds, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Reeds, 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.
Reeds ranks 32,751st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Reeds
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.
Reeds' strengths and weaknesses
Where Reeds ranks high
- Cheap childcare$381 a month, better than 99% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 73% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 73% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 69% of towns
- Household income$82,613 median, better than 68% of towns
Where Reeds ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 14% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 15% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 17% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 22% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Reeds
A household needs to earn about $48,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Reeds home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $82,613, 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 Reeds' effective rate of 0.56%, 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 Reeds
Reeds runs older than the country, though fewer residents are over 65 than the national share, 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 Reeds.
Who works in Reeds, and how
Work in Reeds centers on manufacturing and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 95%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Reeds
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Reeds.
What the weather is like in Reeds, month by month
Reeds sees roughly 77 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 45, 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 | 45° | 35° | 28° |
| April | 68° | 56° | 47° |
| July | 89° | 78° | 69° |
| October | 71° | 59° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Reeds
The nearest airport, Joplin Regional, is about 18 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 153 miles away.
The best schools in and around Reeds
Schools across Reeds average a C, better than 30% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Steadley Elem.B− · 40% proficient
- Diamond Elem.C+ · 37% proficient
- Wildwood Elem.C · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- Carthage Jr. HighC+ · 38% proficient
- Diamond MiddleC− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- Carthage High SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
- Jasper Co. High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Diamond HighD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Reeds school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Reeds 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 Reeds against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Reeds
Is Reeds a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Reeds ranks 32,751st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, state finances, and what local pay buys, and lowest on internet speeds and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Reeds expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $190,491. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $82,613 median income, cost of living beats 73% of towns.
Is Reeds safe?
Reeds is safer than 44% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $406 per resident a year.
Compare Reeds with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Reeds. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Reeds 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.
Reeds detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Reeds: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Reeds: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Reeds: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Reeds: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Reeds 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.