Best PlacesRisco, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Risco, 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.
Risco ranks 48,121st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Risco
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.
Risco's strengths and weaknesses
Where Risco ranks high
- Cheap childcare$356 a month, better than 99% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 97% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 88% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 73% of towns
- BikingBetter than 69% of towns
Where Risco ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 5% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 5% of towns
- Household income$45,991 median, better than only 8% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 9% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 62 pleasant days a year, better than only 12% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Risco
A household needs to earn about $23,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Risco home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $45,991, 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 Risco's effective rate of 0.77%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Risco
Risco's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Risco.
Who works in Risco, and how
Work in Risco centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 98%
- Work from home 1%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Risco
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Risco.
What the weather is like in Risco, month by month
Risco sees roughly 62 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 47, with lows near 32. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47° | 39° | 32° |
| April | 73° | 61° | 52° |
| July | 92° | 82° | 73° |
| October | 76° | 63° | 53° |
Flying in and out of Risco
The nearest airport, Cape Girardeau Regional, is about 48 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 105 miles away.
The best schools in and around Risco
Schools across Risco average a C−, better than 19% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Risco Elem.C− · 27% proficient
- Lilbourn ElementaryD− · 14% proficient
Top middle schools
- Central Middle SchoolD− · 18% proficient
Top high schools
- Risco HighC− · 27% proficient
- Central High SchoolD · 19% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Risco school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Risco 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 Risco against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Risco
Is Risco a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Risco ranks 48,121st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, a stable housing market, and clean air, and lowest on disaster risk and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Risco expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $88,550. The overall cost of living runs about 28% below the national average. Set against a $45,991 median income, cost of living beats 23% of towns.
Is Risco safe?
Risco is safer than 5% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $832 per resident a year.
Compare Risco with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Risco. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Risco 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.
Risco detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Risco: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Risco: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Risco: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Risco: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Risco 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.