Best PlacesSpring Valley, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Spring Valley, 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.
Spring Valley ranks 46,653rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and civic engagement ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Spring Valley
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.
Spring Valley's strengths and weaknesses
Where Spring Valley ranks high
- Cheap childcare$369 a month, better than 99% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 95% of towns
- Short commute19.6 minutes each way, better than 89% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 73% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 61% of towns
Where Spring Valley ranks low
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 1% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 1% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 2% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 4% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 11% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Spring Valley
A household needs to earn about $36,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Spring Valley home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $60,848, 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 Spring Valley's effective rate of 0.30%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Spring Valley
Spring Valley runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Spring Valley.
Who works in Spring Valley, and how
Work in Spring Valley centers on manufacturing and construction. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 94%
- Work from home 3%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Spring Valley
Spring Valley has more restaurants and bars per resident than 99% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Spring Valley and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Spring Valley, month by month
Spring Valley sees roughly 73 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 48, with lows near 28. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 48° | 36° | 28° |
| April | 72° | 59° | 48° |
| July | 91° | 80° | 71° |
| October | 73° | 60° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Spring Valley
The nearest airport, Northwest Arkansas Ntl, is about 22 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 190 miles away.
The best schools in and around Spring Valley
Schools across Spring Valley average a C−, better than 24% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Anderson Elem.B+ · 51% proficient
- Southwest City Elem.C+ · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- Anderson MiddleB− · 40% proficient
- Noel Elem.D+ · 24% proficient
Top high schools
- Mcdonald County HighC · 32% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Spring Valley school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Spring Valley 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 Spring Valley against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Spring Valley
Is Spring Valley a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Spring Valley ranks 46,653rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, low property taxes, and short commutes, and lowest on civic engagement and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Spring Valley expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $149,344. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $60,848 median income, cost of living beats 16% of towns.
Is Spring Valley safe?
Spring Valley is safer than 20% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $499 per resident a year.
Compare Spring Valley with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Spring Valley. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Spring Valley 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.
Spring Valley detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Spring Valley: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Spring Valley: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Spring Valley: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Spring Valley: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Spring Valley 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.