Best PlacesRidgley, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Ridgley, 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.
Ridgley ranks 38,937th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and education levels rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Ridgley
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.
Ridgley's strengths and weaknesses
Where Ridgley ranks high
- Cheap childcare$418 a month, better than 98% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 83% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 80% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 73% of towns
- Short commute23.5 minutes each way, better than 72% of towns
Where Ridgley ranks low
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 7% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 59 pleasant days a year, better than only 7% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 8% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 9% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 15% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Ridgley
A household needs to earn about $43,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ridgley home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $60,343, 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 Ridgley's effective rate of 0.47%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Ridgley
Ridgley 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 Ridgley.
Who works in Ridgley, and how
Work in Ridgley centers on manufacturing and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Ridgley
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Ridgley.
What the weather is like in Ridgley, month by month
Ridgley sees roughly 59 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 Ridgley
The nearest airport, Northwest Arkansas Ntl, is about 32 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 185 miles away.
The best schools in and around Ridgley
Schools across Ridgley average a D+, better than 15% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Rocky Comfort Elem.A− · 58% proficient
- Wheaton Elem.C− · 29% proficient
- Southwest Elem.D+ · 23% proficient
Top middle schools
- Southwest MiddleD+ · 24% proficient
Top high schools
- Mcdonald County HighC · 32% proficient
- Southwest HighD+ · 25% proficient
- Exeter HighD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Ridgley school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ridgley 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 Ridgley against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Ridgley
Is Ridgley a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ridgley ranks 38,937th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, few empty homes, and low property taxes, and lowest on education levels and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Ridgley expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $173,694. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $60,343 median income, cost of living beats 34% of towns.
Is Ridgley safe?
Yes, Ridgley is safer than 61% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $325 per resident a year.
Compare Ridgley with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ridgley. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ridgley 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.
Ridgley detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ridgley: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ridgley: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ridgley: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ridgley: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ridgley 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.