Best PlacesUpton, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Upton, 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.
Upton ranks 35,640th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Upton
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.
Upton's strengths and weaknesses
Where Upton ranks high
- Cheap childcare$349 a month, better than 99% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 91% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 88% of towns
- QuietBetter than 78% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 73% of towns
Where Upton ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 56 pleasant days a year, better than only 4% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 7% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 8% of towns
- Short commute36.1 minutes each way, better than only 11% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 12% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Upton
A household needs to earn about $47,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Upton home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $76,190, 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 Upton's effective rate of 0.41%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Upton
Upton 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 Upton.
Who works in Upton, and how
Work in Upton centers on other services and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Upton
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Upton.
What the weather is like in Upton, month by month
Upton sees roughly 56 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 34° | 26° |
| April | 70° | 57° | 46° |
| July | 89° | 78° | 69° |
| October | 71° | 58° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Upton
The nearest airport, Waynesville-St Robert Regional Forney Field, is about 24 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 135 miles away.
The best schools in and around Upton
Schools across Upton average a C+, better than 48% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Plato Elem.B− · 42% proficient
- Success Elem.C+ · 37% proficient
- Houston Elem.C · 34% proficient
Top middle schools
- Houston MiddleD+ · 26% proficient
Top high schools
- Mountain Grove HighC+ · 37% proficient
- Houston HighC · 32% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Upton school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Upton 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 Upton against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Upton
Is Upton a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Upton ranks 35,640th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, a strong job market, and low property taxes, and lowest on the weather and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Upton expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $190,600. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $76,190 median income, cost of living beats 66% of towns.
Is Upton safe?
Upton is safer than 20% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $520 per resident a year.
Compare Upton with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Upton. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Upton 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.
Upton detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Upton: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Upton: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Upton: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Upton: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Upton 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.