Best PlacesStoddard County, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Stoddard County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Stoddard County ranks 2,466th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Stoddard County
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 Stoddard County
The parts of Stoddard County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Bernie
Fewer homes sit empty, more households have young kids, and more residents vote.
Puxico
It is quieter and tree cover is thicker.
Dexter
Commutes are shorter and more adults hold degrees.
Scores across Stoddard County run from about the 5th to the 54th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Stoddard County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Stoddard County ranks high
- Cheap childcare$399 a month, better than 98% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 93% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 67% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 65% of counties
- School gradeB−, better than 62% of counties
Where Stoddard County ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 60 pleasant days a year, better than only 6% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 12% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 15% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than only 16% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 23% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Stoddard County
A household needs to earn about $37,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Stoddard County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $61,590, 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 Stoddard County's effective rate of 0.69%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Stoddard County
Stoddard County'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 Stoddard County.
Who works in Stoddard County, and how
Work in Stoddard County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 94%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Stoddard County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Stoddard County.
Is Stoddard County growing, and who is moving in?
Stoddard County has lost about 4% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Cape Girardeau, MO.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Stoddard County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Stoddard County, month by month
Stoddard County sees roughly 60 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 46, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 46° | 36° | 29° |
| April | 71° | 59° | 49° |
| July | 90° | 80° | 71° |
| October | 74° | 60° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Stoddard County
The nearest airport, Cape Girardeau Regional, is about 34 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 125 miles away.
The best schools in and around Stoddard County
Schools across Stoddard County average a B−, better than 62% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Matthews ElementaryA+ · 73% proficient
- Richland Elem.A+ · 73% proficient
- Advance Elem.A · 63% proficient
Top middle schools
- Bloomfield MiddleB+ · 50% proficient
- Puxico Jr. HighC+ · 37% proficient
- T. S. Hill MiddleC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Bernie HighB+ · 52% proficient
- Richland HighB− · 45% proficient
- Puxico HighC+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Stoddard County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Stoddard County 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 Stoddard County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Stoddard County suits
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Stoddard County
Is Stoddard County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Stoddard County ranks 2,466th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on affordable childcare, a stable housing market, and civic engagement, and lowest on the weather and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Stoddard County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $144,520. The overall cost of living runs about 24% below the national average. Set against a $61,590 median income, cost of living beats 54% of counties.
Is Stoddard County safe?
Stoddard County is safer than 36% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $454 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Stoddard County?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 46 with lows near 29. That works out to about 60 pleasant days a year, more than 6% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Stoddard County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Bernie, Puxico, and Dexter. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Stoddard County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Stoddard County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Stoddard County 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.
Stoddard County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Stoddard County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Stoddard County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Stoddard County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Stoddard County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Stoddard County 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.