Best PlacesRucker, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Rucker, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Rucker ranks 26,836th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Rucker
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.
Rucker's strengths and weaknesses
Where Rucker ranks high
- Cheap childcare$496 a month, better than 93% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 82% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 79% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 75% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 73% of towns
Where Rucker ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 48 pleasant days a year, better than only 1% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 4% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 13% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 15% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Rucker
A household needs to earn about $60,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Rucker home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $84,593, 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 Rucker's effective rate of 0.64%, 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 Rucker
Rucker'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 Rucker.
Who works in Rucker, and how
Work in Rucker centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Rucker
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Rucker.
What the weather is like in Rucker, month by month
Rucker sees roughly 48 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41° | 32° | 25° |
| April | 70° | 57° | 47° |
| July | 92° | 79° | 68° |
| October | 74° | 60° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Rucker
The nearest airport, Columbia Regional, is about 30 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 115 miles away.
The best schools in and around Rucker
Schools across Rucker average a C, better than 34% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Harrisburg Elem.B− · 43% proficient
- Laurence J. Daly Elem.C+ · 37% proficient
- Sturgeon ElementaryD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Wm. N. Clark MiddleC+ · 38% proficient
- Sturgeon MiddleC · 33% proficient
- Harrisburg MiddleC− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- Higbee HighB− · 42% proficient
- Sturgeon HighC · 30% proficient
- Harrisburg HighC− · 27% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Rucker school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Rucker 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 Rucker against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Rucker
Is Rucker a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Rucker ranks 26,836th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, low crime, and a strong job market, and lowest on the weather and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Rucker expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $235,017. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $84,593 median income, cost of living beats 75% of towns.
Is Rucker safe?
Yes, Rucker is safer than 82% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $272 per resident a year.
Compare Rucker with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Rucker. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Rucker 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.
Rucker detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Rucker: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Rucker: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Rucker: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Rucker: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Rucker 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.