Best PlacesTexas County, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Texas County, 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.
Texas County ranks 2,839th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Texas 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 Texas County
The parts of Texas 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.
Licking
Fewer homes sit empty and heat risk is lower.
Houston
More residents vote, though crime runs higher.
Cabool
It is noisier and disaster risk is higher.
Scores across Texas County run from about the 2nd to the 32nd percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Texas County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Texas County ranks high
- Cheap childcare$349 a month, better than 99% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 87% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 85% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 80% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 71% of counties
Where Texas County ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 4% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than only 6% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 8% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 9% of counties
- Household income$50,590 median, better than only 9% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Texas County
A household needs to earn about $39,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Texas County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $50,590, 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 Texas County's effective rate of 0.44%, 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 Texas County
Texas County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Texas County.
Who works in Texas County, and how
Work in Texas County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Texas County
Texas County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Texas County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Texas County growing, and who is moving in?
Texas County has held roughly flat in population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Wright County, MO.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Texas County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Texas County, month by month
Texas County sees roughly 85 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 32° | 23° |
| April | 70° | 55° | 43° |
| July | 89° | 76° | 65° |
| October | 71° | 56° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Texas County
The nearest airport, Waynesville-St Robert Regional Forney Field, is about 30 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 131 miles away.
The best schools in and around Texas County
Schools across Texas County average a C, better than 37% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Manes R-v School DistrictA− · 62% proficient
- Gasconade Elem.B+ · 52% proficient
- Mountain Grove Elem.B+ · 52% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mountain Grove MiddleB+ · 49% proficient
- Willow Springs MiddleB · 47% proficient
- Liberty MiddleC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Willow Springs HighB− · 43% proficient
- Liberty Sr. HighB− · 43% proficient
- Summersville HighC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Texas County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Texas 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 Texas County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Texas County suits
Common questions about living in Texas County
Is Texas County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Texas County ranks 2,839th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on affordable childcare, low property taxes, and clean air, and lowest on internet speeds and health outcomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Texas County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $158,872. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $50,590 median income, cost of living beats 9% of counties.
Is Texas County safe?
Texas County is safer than 20% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $577 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Texas County?
July highs average about 89 degrees, and January highs near 44 with lows near 23. That works out to about 85 pleasant days a year, more than 46% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Texas County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Licking, Houston, and Cabool. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Texas County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Texas County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Texas 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.
Texas County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Texas County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Texas County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Texas County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Texas County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Texas 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.