Best PlacesValles Mines, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Valles Mines, 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.
Valles Mines ranks 30,152nd 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 Valles Mines
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.
Valles Mines' strengths and weaknesses
Where Valles Mines ranks high
- Cheap childcare$419 a month, better than 98% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 94% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 76% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 73% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 68% of towns
Where Valles Mines ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 55 pleasant days a year, better than only 2% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 15% of towns
- Short commute33.8 minutes each way, better than only 17% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 22% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 24% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Valles Mines
A household needs to earn about $59,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Valles Mines home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $70,964, 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 Valles Mines' effective rate of 0.60%, 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 Valles Mines
Valles Mines 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 Valles Mines.
Who works in Valles Mines, and how
Work in Valles Mines centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Valles Mines
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Valles Mines.
What the weather is like in Valles Mines, month by month
Valles Mines sees roughly 55 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 33° | 25° |
| April | 69° | 56° | 46° |
| July | 88° | 78° | 69° |
| October | 71° | 58° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Valles Mines
The nearest airport, Scott AFB/Midamerica St Louis, is about 52 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 53 miles away.
The best schools in and around Valles Mines
Schools across Valles Mines average a C+, better than 49% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Sunrise Elem.B · 45% proficient
- Athena Elem.C+ · 39% proficient
Top middle schools
- Desoto Jr. HighC+ · 36% proficient
- North Co. MiddleC− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- Jefferson High SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Central HighB · 48% proficient
- Desoto Sr. HighB− · 41% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Valles Mines school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Valles Mines 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 Valles Mines against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Valles Mines
Is Valles Mines a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Valles Mines ranks 30,152nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, fast internet, and few empty homes, and lowest on the weather and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Valles Mines expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $231,281. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $70,964 median income, cost of living beats 52% of towns.
Is Valles Mines safe?
Yes, Valles Mines is safer than 65% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $318 per resident a year.
Compare Valles Mines with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Valles Mines. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Valles Mines 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.
Valles Mines detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Valles Mines: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Valles Mines: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Valles Mines: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Valles Mines: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Valles Mines 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.