Best PlacesStarkenburg, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Starkenburg, 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.
Starkenburg ranks 28,291st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and empty homes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Starkenburg
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.
Starkenburg's strengths and weaknesses
Where Starkenburg ranks high
- Cheap childcare$436 a month, better than 98% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 87% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 86% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 83% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 78% of towns
Where Starkenburg ranks low
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 14% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 16% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 16% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Starkenburg
A household needs to earn about $52,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Starkenburg home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $88,147, 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 Starkenburg's effective rate of 0.45%, 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 Starkenburg
Starkenburg'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 Starkenburg.
Who works in Starkenburg, and how
Work in Starkenburg centers on construction and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Starkenburg
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Starkenburg.
What the weather is like in Starkenburg, month by month
Starkenburg sees roughly 91 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 42, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42° | 32° | 25° |
| April | 69° | 56° | 46° |
| July | 89° | 78° | 69° |
| October | 71° | 58° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Starkenburg
The nearest airport, Columbia Regional, is about 38 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 62 miles away.
The best schools in and around Starkenburg
Schools across Starkenburg average a B−, better than 55% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Hermann Elem.C− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Hermann MiddleB · 45% proficient
Top high schools
- Hermann HighB · 47% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Starkenburg school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Starkenburg 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 Starkenburg against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Starkenburg
Is Starkenburg a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Starkenburg ranks 28,291st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, low disaster risk, and civic engagement, and lowest on empty homes and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Starkenburg expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $211,034. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $88,147 median income, cost of living beats 78% of towns.
Is Starkenburg safe?
Starkenburg is safer than 16% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $568 per resident a year.
Compare Starkenburg with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Starkenburg. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Starkenburg 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.
Starkenburg detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Starkenburg: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Starkenburg: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Starkenburg: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Starkenburg: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Starkenburg 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.