Best PlacesRichmond, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Richmond, 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.
Richmond ranks 32,728th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on walkability by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Richmond
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.
Richmond's strengths and weaknesses
Where Richmond ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 93% of towns
- Cheap childcare$494 a month, better than 93% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 91% of towns
- BikingBetter than 81% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 74% of towns
Where Richmond ranks low
- Short commute33.8 minutes each way, better than only 17% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 20% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 23% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 24% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 24% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Richmond
A household needs to earn about $49,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Richmond home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $61,361, 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 Richmond's effective rate of 0.85%, 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 Richmond
Richmond runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Richmond.
Who works in Richmond, and how
Work in Richmond centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Richmond
Richmond has more restaurants and bars per resident than 72% of towns and more parkland per resident than 97% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Richmond and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Richmond, month by month
Richmond sees roughly 92 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 39, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39° | 30° | 23° |
| April | 67° | 54° | 44° |
| July | 88° | 77° | 68° |
| October | 69° | 56° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Richmond
Kansas City International sits about 39 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 5.7 million passengers in 2025, with 104 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Richmond
Schools across Richmond average a C+, better than 41% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Braymer Elem.B · 48% proficient
- Hardin-central Elem.B · 47% proficient
- Sunrise Elem.C+ · 37% proficient
Top middle schools
- Polo MiddleA− · 53% proficient
- Richmond MiddleC+ · 36% proficient
Top high schools
- Braymer HighB− · 45% proficient
- Orrick HighC · 33% proficient
- Richmond HighC · 32% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Richmond school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Richmond 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 Richmond against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Richmond
Is Richmond a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Richmond ranks 32,728th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on walkability, affordable childcare, and cell coverage, and lowest on long commutes and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Richmond expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $185,447. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $61,361 median income, cost of living beats 41% of towns.
Is Richmond safe?
Richmond is safer than 29% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $472 per resident a year.
Compare Richmond with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Richmond. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Richmond 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.
Richmond detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Richmond: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Richmond: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Richmond: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Richmond: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Richmond 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.