Best PlacesSedalia, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Sedalia, 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.
Sedalia ranks 1,459th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Sedalia
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.
Sedalia's strengths and weaknesses
Where Sedalia ranks high
- Cheap childcare$431 a month, better than 99% of cities
- Short commute17.3 minutes each way, better than 95% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than 80% of cities
- Local economyBetter than 74% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than 70% of cities
Where Sedalia ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 6% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than only 10% of cities
- Health outlookBetter than only 11% of cities
- Household income$63,274 median, better than only 13% of cities
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 16% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Sedalia
A household needs to earn about $48,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Sedalia home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $63,274, 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 Sedalia's effective rate of 0.72%, 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 Sedalia
Sedalia'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 Sedalia.
Who works in Sedalia, and how
Work in Sedalia centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Sedalia
Sedalia has more restaurants and bars per resident than 75% of cities and more parkland per resident than 95% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Sedalia and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Sedalia, month by month
Sedalia sees roughly 90 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41° | 32° | 24° |
| April | 68° | 56° | 46° |
| July | 89° | 78° | 70° |
| October | 71° | 59° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Sedalia
The nearest airport, Columbia Regional, is about 56 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 90 miles away.
The best schools in and around Sedalia
Schools across Sedalia average a B−, better than 56% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Parkview Elem.B+ · 53% proficient
- Horace Mann Elem.B+ · 53% proficient
- Skyline Elem.B · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Sedalia Middle SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Smith Cotton Junior High SchlB− · 39% proficient
Top high schools
- Nixa HighA · 70% proficient
- Smith-cotton High SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Cole Camp HighB− · 43% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Sedalia school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Sedalia 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 Sedalia against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Sedalia suits
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Sedalia
Is Sedalia a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Sedalia ranks 1,459th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on affordable childcare, short commutes, and state finances, and lowest on distance from a big city and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Sedalia expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $183,986. The overall cost of living runs about 24% below the national average. Set against a $63,274 median income, cost of living beats 34% of cities.
Is Sedalia safe?
Sedalia is safer than 52% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $378 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Sedalia?
July highs average about 89 degrees, and January highs near 41 with lows near 24. That works out to about 90 pleasant days a year, more than 54% of cities.
Is Sedalia good for families?
Schools beat 56% of cities, crime safety beats 52%, and childcare runs $431 a month.
Compare Sedalia with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Sedalia. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Sedalia 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.
Sedalia detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Sedalia: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Sedalia: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Sedalia: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Sedalia: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Sedalia 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.