Best PlacesSchell City, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Schell City, 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.
Schell City ranks 41,645th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and health outcomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Schell City
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.
Schell City's strengths and weaknesses
Where Schell City ranks high
- Cheap childcare$406 a month, better than 98% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 73% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 71% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 70% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 64% of towns
Where Schell City ranks low
- Health outlookBetter than only 2% of towns
- School gradeD, better than only 9% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 13% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 14% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 25% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Schell City
A household needs to earn about $34,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Schell City home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $59,705, 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 Schell City'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 Schell City
Schell City runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Schell City.
Who works in Schell City, and how
Work in Schell City centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Schell City
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Schell City.
What the weather is like in Schell City, month by month
Schell City sees roughly 84 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 42, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42° | 32° | 24° |
| April | 68° | 56° | 45° |
| July | 89° | 78° | 69° |
| October | 71° | 58° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Schell City
The nearest airport, Joplin Regional, is about 63 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 93 miles away.
The best schools in and around Schell City
Schools across Schell City average a D, better than 9% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Rich Hill Elem.C+ · 35% proficient
- El Dorado Springs Elem.D+ · 25% proficient
- Appleton City Elem.D+ · 24% proficient
Top middle schools
- El Dorado Springs MiddleC− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- Rich Hill HighB− · 43% proficient
- Osceola Jr.-sr. HighC+ · 37% proficient
- Weaubleau HighC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Schell City school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Schell City 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 Schell City against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Schell City
Is Schell City a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Schell City ranks 41,645th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, state finances, and low property taxes, and lowest on health outcomes and the schools. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Schell City expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $132,918. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $59,705 median income, cost of living beats 30% of towns.
Is Schell City safe?
Schell City is safer than 49% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $365 per resident a year.
Compare Schell City with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Schell City. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Schell City 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.
Schell City detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Schell City: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Schell City: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Schell City: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Schell City: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Schell City 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.