Best PlacesSeaton, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Seaton, 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.
Seaton ranks 17,471st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Seaton
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.
Seaton's strengths and weaknesses
Where Seaton ranks high
- Cheap childcare$405 a month, better than 98% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 97% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 91% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 86% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 82% of towns
Where Seaton ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 10% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 12% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 20% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 24% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Seaton
A household needs to earn about $51,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Seaton home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $87,796, 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 Seaton's effective rate of 0.58%, 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 Seaton
Seaton runs older than the country, 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 Seaton.
Who works in Seaton, and how
Work in Seaton centers on public administration and construction. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 74%
- Work from home 22%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Seaton
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Seaton.
What the weather is like in Seaton, month by month
Seaton sees roughly 99 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 32° | 23° |
| April | 70° | 55° | 43° |
| July | 89° | 76° | 65° |
| October | 71° | 56° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Seaton
The nearest airport, Waynesville-St Robert Regional Forney Field, is about 30 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 92 miles away.
The best schools in and around Seaton
Schools across Seaton average a B, better than 64% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Mark Twain Elem.B+ · 55% proficient
- Lucy Wortham James Elem.B+ · 50% proficient
- North Wood Elem.B− · 43% proficient
Top middle schools
- Rolla MiddleB− · 41% proficient
- Steelville MiddleB− · 39% proficient
- St. James MiddleC+ · 36% proficient
Top high schools
- St. James HighB · 50% proficient
- Steelville HighB− · 45% proficient
- Rolla Sr. HighB− · 43% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Seaton school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Seaton 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 Seaton against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Seaton
Is Seaton a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Seaton ranks 17,471st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, fast internet, and civic engagement, and lowest on cell coverage and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Seaton expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $199,602. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $87,796 median income, cost of living beats 79% of towns.
Is Seaton safe?
Seaton is safer than 20% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $562 per resident a year.
Compare Seaton with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Seaton. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Seaton 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.
Seaton detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Seaton: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Seaton: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Seaton: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Seaton: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Seaton 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.