Best PlacesRitchey, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Ritchey, 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.
Ritchey ranks 41,783rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and low incomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Ritchey
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.
Ritchey's strengths and weaknesses
Where Ritchey ranks high
- Cheap childcare$445 a month, better than 97% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 79% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 73% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 72% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 65% of towns
Where Ritchey ranks low
- Household income$48,990 median, better than only 11% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 17% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 20% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 21% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Ritchey
A household needs to earn about $51,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ritchey home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $48,990; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Ritchey's effective rate of 0.48%, 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 Ritchey
Ritchey'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 Ritchey.
Who works in Ritchey, and how
Work in Ritchey 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 92%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Ritchey
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Ritchey.
What the weather is like in Ritchey, month by month
Ritchey 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 Ritchey
The nearest airport, Joplin Regional, is about 21 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 164 miles away.
The best schools in and around Ritchey
Schools across Ritchey average a C, better than 39% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Wildwood Elem.C · 35% proficient
- TriwayC · 35% proficient
- GranbyC · 31% proficient
Top middle schools
- Pierce City MiddleC+ · 38% proficient
- Diamond MiddleC− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- Pierce City HighB− · 40% proficient
- East Newton HighC+ · 38% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Ritchey school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ritchey 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 Ritchey against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Ritchey
Is Ritchey a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ritchey ranks 41,783rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, low property taxes, and state finances, and lowest on low incomes and the cost of living against local pay. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Ritchey expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $204,965. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $48,990 median income, cost of living beats 17% of towns.
Is Ritchey safe?
Yes, Ritchey is safer than 65% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $305 per resident a year.
Compare Ritchey with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ritchey. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ritchey 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.
Ritchey detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ritchey: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ritchey: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ritchey: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ritchey: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ritchey 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.