Best PlacesSikeston, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Sikeston, 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.
Sikeston ranks 37,605th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Sikeston
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.
Sikeston's strengths and weaknesses
Where Sikeston ranks high
- Cheap childcare$406 a month, better than 98% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 97% of towns
- Short commute16.1 minutes each way, better than 96% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 93% of towns
- BikingBetter than 87% of towns
Where Sikeston ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 8% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 10% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 12% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 64 pleasant days a year, better than only 15% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 15% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Sikeston
A household needs to earn about $41,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Sikeston home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $65,312, 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 Sikeston's effective rate of 0.68%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Sikeston
Sikeston's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Sikeston.
Who works in Sikeston, and how
Work in Sikeston centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 3%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Sikeston
Sikeston has more restaurants and bars per resident than 81% of towns and more parkland per resident than 85% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Sikeston and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Sikeston, month by month
Sikeston sees roughly 64 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 45, with lows near 30. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45° | 37° | 30° |
| April | 71° | 59° | 49° |
| July | 91° | 81° | 72° |
| October | 74° | 61° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Sikeston
The nearest airport, Cape Girardeau Regional, is about 24 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 129 miles away.
The best schools in and around Sikeston
Schools across Sikeston average a C, better than 34% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Matthews ElementaryA+ · 73% proficient
- Richland Elem.A+ · 73% proficient
- Lee Hunter Elem.B− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Sikeston Middle SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Sikeston Junior High SchoolC− · 29% proficient
- Scott Co. MiddleD · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- Richland HighB− · 45% proficient
- Sikeston Senior High SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Thomas W. Kelly HighC+ · 38% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Sikeston school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Sikeston 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 Sikeston against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Sikeston
Is Sikeston a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Sikeston ranks 37,605th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, cell coverage, and short commutes, and lowest on disaster risk and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Sikeston expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $160,981. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $65,312 median income, cost of living beats 45% of towns.
Is Sikeston safe?
Sikeston is safer than 10% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $708 per resident a year.
Compare Sikeston with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Sikeston. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Sikeston 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.
Sikeston detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Sikeston: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Sikeston: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Sikeston: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Sikeston: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Sikeston 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.