Best PlacesTarkio, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Tarkio, 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.
Tarkio ranks 32,560th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Tarkio
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.
Tarkio's strengths and weaknesses
Where Tarkio ranks high
- Cheap childcare$250 a month, better than 99% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 94% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 87% of towns
- Short commute22.2 minutes each way, better than 79% of towns
- BikingBetter than 78% of towns
Where Tarkio ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 10% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 19% of towns
- Household income$55,882 median, better than only 20% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 22% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 23% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Tarkio
A household needs to earn about $25,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Tarkio home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $55,882, 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 Tarkio's effective rate of 1.11%, 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 Tarkio
Tarkio runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Tarkio.
Who works in Tarkio, and how
Work in Tarkio centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Tarkio
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Tarkio.
What the weather is like in Tarkio, month by month
Tarkio sees roughly 92 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 25° | 18° |
| April | 66° | 52° | 41° |
| July | 86° | 76° | 66° |
| October | 68° | 54° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Tarkio
Eppley Airfield sits about 65 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 2.6 million passengers in 2025, with 73 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Tarkio
Schools across Tarkio average a B−, better than 57% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Tarkio Elem.B− · 43% proficient
- Fairfax Elem.C+ · 38% proficient
Top high schools
- Fairfax HighB · 47% proficient
- Tarkio HighC+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Tarkio school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Tarkio 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 Tarkio against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Tarkio
Is Tarkio a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Tarkio ranks 32,560th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, walkability, and a stable housing market, and lowest on cell coverage and health outcomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Tarkio expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $90,780. The overall cost of living runs about 27% below the national average. Set against a $55,882 median income, cost of living beats 48% of towns.
Is Tarkio safe?
Tarkio is safer than 22% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $525 per resident a year.
Compare Tarkio with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Tarkio. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Tarkio 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.
Tarkio detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Tarkio: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Tarkio: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Tarkio: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Tarkio: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Tarkio 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.