Best PlacesSt. Joseph, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in the St. Joseph metro, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Photo by Tim Kiser ( w:User:Malepheasant ), CC BY-SA 2.5, via commons
St. Joseph ranks 312th of 387 U.S. metro areas on the BestNeighborhood index. It ranks low mainly on health outcomes and transit. It does better on affordable childcare, which keeps it off the bottom.
The best neighborhoods in the St. Joseph metro
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.
The best areas in St. Joseph
The towns and districts of the St. Joseph metro, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood in each, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the metro.
Savannah
It is quieter, more residents vote, and fewer homes sit empty.
Downtown St. Joseph
More adults hold degrees.
Cameron
Scores across St. Joseph run from about the 2nd to the 89th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
St. Joseph's strengths and weaknesses
St. Joseph ranks near the bottom because several of the basics fall short at once. Affordable childcare is the standout, in the top 1% of metro areas. Short commutes and a stable housing market follow.
The weak spots are broad rather than narrow: health outcomes, transit, and noise all drag on the score. Those are area averages, and the map below shows which parts run well above them.
Where St. Joseph ranks high
- Cheap childcare$435 a month, better than 99% of metro areas
- Short commute19.6 minutes each way, better than 89% of metro areas
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 74% of metro areas
- State fiscal healthBetter than 74% of metro areas
- State infrastructureBetter than 59% of metro areas
Where St. Joseph ranks low
- Health outlookBetter than only 12% of metro areas
- TransitBetter than only 13% of metro areas
- QuietBetter than only 15% of metro areas
- Household income$68,721 median, better than only 18% of metro areas
- Low vacancyBetter than only 20% of metro areas
What it costs to buy a home in St. Joseph
A household needs to earn about $48,000 a year to comfortably buy the median St. Joseph home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $68,721, 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 St. Joseph's effective rate of 0.75%, 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 St. Joseph
St. Joseph'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 St. Joseph.
Who works in St. Joseph, and how
Work in St. Joseph centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in St. Joseph
St. Joseph has more restaurants and bars per resident than 93% of metro areas and more parkland per resident than 94% of metro areas. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of St. Joseph and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is St. Joseph growing, and who is moving in?
St. Joseph has lost about 6% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Kansas City, MO.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving St. Joseph go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in St. Joseph, month by month
St. Joseph sees roughly 91 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 38, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 38° | 28° | 20° |
| April | 68° | 54° | 43° |
| July | 88° | 78° | 68° |
| October | 70° | 56° | 45° |
Flying in and out of St. Joseph
Kansas City International sits about 33 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 St. Joseph
Schools across St. Joseph average a C, better than 26% of metro areas.
Top elementary schools
- Avenue City Elem.A+ · 75% proficient
- John Glenn Elem.A− · 57% proficient
- Ellison Elem.A− · 57% proficient
Top middle schools
- Savannah MiddleB+ · 48% proficient
- East Buchanan MiddleB · 47% proficient
- Bode MiddleC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- East Buchanan HighB · 48% proficient
- Mid-buchanan Sr. HighC+ · 38% proficient
- Central HighC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every St. Joseph school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
St. Joseph 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 St. Joseph against the other 386 metro areas.
Who St. Joseph suits
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in St. Joseph
Is St. Joseph a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, St. Joseph ranks 312th of 387 metro areas. It scores highest on affordable childcare, short commutes, and a stable housing market, and lowest on health outcomes and transit. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is St. Joseph expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $186,271. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $68,721 median income, cost of living beats 31% of metro areas.
Is St. Joseph safe?
St. Joseph is safer than 33% of metro areas. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $454 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in St. Joseph?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 38 with lows near 20. That works out to about 91 pleasant days a year, more than 53% of metro areas.
What are the best neighborhoods in St. Joseph?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Savannah, Downtown St. Joseph, and Cameron. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is St. Joseph good for families?
Schools beat 26% of metro areas, crime safety beats 33%, and childcare runs $435 a month.
Is St. Joseph good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 31% of metro areas, though advertised internet speeds beat only 36% of metro areas. About 8% of workers already work from home.
Compare St. Joseph with other metro areas
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to St. Joseph. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in St. Joseph 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.
St. Joseph detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for St. Joseph: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in St. Joseph: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of St. Joseph: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in St. Joseph: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
St. Joseph 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.