Best PlacesSouth Mound, KS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around South Mound, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
South Mound ranks 20,803rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in South Mound
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.
South Mound's strengths and weaknesses
Where South Mound ranks high
- Cheap childcare$467 a month, better than 96% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 95% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 87% of towns
- Short commute21.1 minutes each way, better than 84% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 80% of towns
Where South Mound ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 9% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 12% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 15% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 17% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 17% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in South Mound
A household needs to earn about $40,000 a year to comfortably buy the median South Mound home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $77,292, 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 South Mound's effective rate of 1.24%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in South Mound
South Mound runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for South Mound.
Who works in South Mound, and how
Work in South Mound centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in South Mound
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across South Mound.
What the weather is like in South Mound, month by month
South Mound sees roughly 102 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 47, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47° | 34° | 24° |
| April | 72° | 58° | 47° |
| July | 93° | 81° | 70° |
| October | 75° | 61° | 50° |
Flying in and out of South Mound
The nearest airport, Joplin Regional, is about 45 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 131 miles away.
The best schools in and around South Mound
Schools across South Mound average a C−, better than 24% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- St. Paul Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Southeast Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Garfield SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Top middle schools
- St. Paul Middle SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Southeast Middle SchoolD · 22% proficient
- Galesburg Middle SchoolD− · 14% proficient
Top high schools
- Erie High SchoolC− · 27% proficient
- St. Paul High SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
- Parsons Sr HighD− · 17% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every South Mound school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
South Mound 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 South Mound against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in South Mound
Is South Mound a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, South Mound ranks 20,803rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, state infrastructure, and low crime, and lowest on internet speeds and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is South Mound expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $145,419. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $77,292 median income, cost of living beats 74% of towns.
Is South Mound safe?
Yes, South Mound is safer than 87% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $205 per resident a year.
Compare South Mound with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to South Mound. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in South Mound 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.
South Mound detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for South Mound: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in South Mound: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of South Mound: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in South Mound: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
South Mound 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.