Best PlacesStrafford, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Strafford, 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.
Strafford ranks 15,708th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. The weather pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on few empty homes.
The best neighborhoods in Strafford
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.
Strafford's strengths and weaknesses
Where Strafford ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 81% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 81% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 80% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 79% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 77% of towns
Where Strafford ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 61 pleasant days a year, better than only 10% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 12% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 28% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 30% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 31% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Strafford
A household needs to earn about $61,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Strafford home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $84,937, 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 Strafford's effective rate of 0.62%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Strafford
Strafford runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Strafford.
Who works in Strafford, and how
Work in Strafford centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Strafford
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Strafford.
What the weather is like in Strafford, month by month
Strafford sees roughly 61 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 47, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47° | 34° | 23° |
| April | 71° | 57° | 44° |
| July | 92° | 79° | 69° |
| October | 74° | 59° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Strafford
The nearest airport, Springfield-Branson Ntl, is about 15 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 164 miles away.
The best schools in and around Strafford
Schools across Strafford average a B, better than 68% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Strafford Elem.B+ · 55% proficient
- Hickory Hills Elem.B · 50% proficient
- Fair Grove Elem.B · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Logan-rogersville Upper Elem.A− · 54% proficient
- Fair Grove MiddleB · 47% proficient
- Strafford MiddleB · 47% proficient
Top high schools
- Strafford HighB · 48% proficient
- Fair Grove HighB− · 45% proficient
- Logan-rogersville HighB− · 42% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Strafford school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Strafford 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 Strafford against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Strafford
Is Strafford a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Strafford ranks 15,708th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on few empty homes, civic engagement, and low crime, and lowest on the weather and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Strafford expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $240,636. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $84,937 median income, cost of living beats 79% of towns.
Is Strafford safe?
Yes, Strafford is safer than 80% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $254 per resident a year.
Compare Strafford with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Strafford. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Strafford 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.
Strafford detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Strafford: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Strafford: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Strafford: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Strafford: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Strafford 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.