Best PlacesRockaway Beach, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Rockaway Beach, 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.
Rockaway Beach ranks 37,483rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Rockaway Beach
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.
Rockaway Beach's strengths and weaknesses
Where Rockaway Beach ranks high
- Cheap childcare$414 a month, better than 98% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 88% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 73% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 72% of towns
- School gradeB, better than 71% of towns
Where Rockaway Beach ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 18% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 21% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 21% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 21% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Rockaway Beach
A household needs to earn about $39,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Rockaway Beach home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $59,853, 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 Rockaway Beach's effective rate of 0.55%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Rockaway Beach
Rockaway Beach's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Rockaway Beach.
Who works in Rockaway Beach, and how
Work in Rockaway Beach centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Rockaway Beach
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Rockaway Beach.
What the weather is like in Rockaway Beach, month by month
Rockaway Beach 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° | 36° | 28° |
| April | 69° | 58° | 48° |
| July | 89° | 79° | 69° |
| October | 71° | 60° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Rockaway Beach
The nearest airport, Branson, is about 12 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 198 miles away.
The best schools in and around Rockaway Beach
Schools across Rockaway Beach average a B, better than 71% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Buchanan ElementaryA · 63% proficient
- Blue Eye Elem.B− · 40% proficient
- Forsyth Elem.B− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Buchanan IntermediateB+ · 50% proficient
- Forsyth MiddleB+ · 49% proficient
- Cedar Ridge IntermediateB · 45% proficient
Top high schools
- Blue Eye HighB · 47% proficient
- Branson HighB− · 45% proficient
- Forsyth HighB− · 43% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Rockaway Beach school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Rockaway Beach 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 Rockaway Beach against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Rockaway Beach
Is Rockaway Beach a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Rockaway Beach ranks 37,483rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, cell coverage, and state finances, and lowest on an overheated housing market and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Rockaway Beach expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $154,458. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $59,853 median income, cost of living beats 24% of towns.
Is Rockaway Beach safe?
Yes, Rockaway Beach is safer than 62% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $310 per resident a year.
Compare Rockaway Beach with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Rockaway Beach. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Rockaway Beach 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.
Rockaway Beach detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Rockaway Beach: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Rockaway Beach: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Rockaway Beach: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Rockaway Beach: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Rockaway Beach 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.