Best PlacesReynolds County, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Reynolds County, 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.
Reynolds County ranks 3,042nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and biking ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Reynolds 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.
Reynolds County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Reynolds County ranks high
- Cheap childcare$354 a month, better than 99% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 99% of counties
- QuietBetter than 90% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 89% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 66% of counties
Where Reynolds County ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 1% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 1% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 1% of counties
- Household income$43,604 median, better than only 1% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 5% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Reynolds County
A household needs to earn about $35,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Reynolds County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $43,604, 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 Reynolds County's effective rate of 0.42%, 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 Reynolds County
Reynolds County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Reynolds County.
Who works in Reynolds County, and how
Work in Reynolds County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Reynolds County
Reynolds County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Reynolds County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Reynolds County growing, and who is moving in?
Reynolds County has lost about 7% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Phelps County, MO.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Reynolds County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Reynolds County, month by month
Reynolds County sees roughly 68 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 33° | 25° |
| April | 69° | 56° | 46° |
| July | 88° | 78° | 69° |
| October | 71° | 58° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Reynolds County
The nearest airport, Waynesville-St Robert Regional Forney Field, is about 70 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 103 miles away.
The best schools in and around Reynolds County
Schools across Reynolds County average a C, better than 42% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Centerville Elem.B+ · 52% proficient
- Ellington ElementaryB · 48% proficient
- Lesterville ElementaryB− · 42% proficient
Top middle schools
- Clearwater MiddleD+ · 26% proficient
Top high schools
- Clearwater HighC+ · 40% proficient
- Ellington High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Eminence HighC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Reynolds County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Reynolds 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 Reynolds County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Reynolds County
Is Reynolds County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Reynolds County ranks 3,042nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on affordable childcare, tree cover, and quiet, and lowest on biking and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Reynolds County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $139,999. The overall cost of living runs about 23% below the national average. Set against a $43,604 median income, cost of living beats 5% of counties.
Is Reynolds County safe?
Reynolds County is safer than 17% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $578 per resident a year.
Compare Reynolds County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Reynolds County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Reynolds 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.
Reynolds County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Reynolds County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Reynolds County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Reynolds County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Reynolds County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Reynolds 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.