Best PlacesSmithville, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Smithville, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Smithville ranks 3,237th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on few empty homes by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Smithville
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.
Smithville's strengths and weaknesses
Where Smithville ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 95% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 92% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 91% of towns
- Household income$109,405 median, better than 90% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 89% of towns
Where Smithville ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 14% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 26% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 27% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 33% of towns
- Cheap childcare$914 a month, better than only 35% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Smithville
A household needs to earn about $86,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Smithville home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $109,405, 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 Smithville's effective rate of 0.83%, 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 Smithville
Smithville'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 Smithville.
Who works in Smithville, and how
Work in Smithville centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Smithville
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Smithville.
What the weather is like in Smithville, month by month
Smithville sees roughly 83 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 42, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42° | 30° | 20° |
| April | 69° | 55° | 42° |
| July | 90° | 79° | 68° |
| October | 72° | 58° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Smithville
Kansas City International sits about 10 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 5.7 million passengers in 2025, with 104 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Smithville
Schools across Smithville average a B+, better than 80% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Horizon ElementaryA · 67% proficient
- Dogwood Elem.A− · 61% proficient
- Donald D. Siegrist Elem.B+ · 52% proficient
Top middle schools
- Kearney MiddleA− · 57% proficient
- Platte City MiddleA− · 55% proficient
- Smithville MiddleB+ · 49% proficient
Top high schools
- Kearney HighB+ · 57% proficient
- Smithville HighB · 50% proficient
- Platte County HighB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Smithville school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Smithville 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 Smithville against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Smithville
Is Smithville a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Smithville ranks 3,237th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on few empty homes, what local pay buys, and a strong job market, and lowest on air quality and car insurance costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Smithville expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $329,233. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $109,405 median income, cost of living beats 92% of towns.
Is Smithville safe?
Yes, Smithville is safer than 86% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $239 per resident a year.
Compare Smithville with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Smithville. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Smithville 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.
Smithville detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Smithville: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Smithville: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Smithville: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Smithville: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Smithville 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.