Best PlacesVida, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Vida, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Vida ranks 8,684th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on fast internet by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Vida
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.
Vida's strengths and weaknesses
Where Vida ranks high
- Internet speedBetter than 99% of towns
- Cheap childcare$407 a month, better than 98% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 92% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 90% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 86% of towns
Where Vida ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 26% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 26% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 31% of towns
- Short commute30.4 minutes each way, better than only 31% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 41% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Vida
A household needs to earn about $65,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Vida home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $81,722, 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 Vida'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 and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Vida
Vida runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Vida.
Who works in Vida, and how
Work in Vida centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Vida
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Vida.
What the weather is like in Vida, month by month
Vida sees roughly 100 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 Vida
The nearest airport, Waynesville-St Robert Regional Forney Field, is about 20 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 100 miles away.
The best schools in and around Vida
Schools across Vida average a B, better than 64% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Mark Twain Elem.B+ · 55% proficient
- Col. John B. Wyman Elem.B · 50% proficient
- Phelps Co. Elem.B− · 42% proficient
Top middle schools
- Rolla MiddleB− · 41% proficient
Top high schools
- Rolla Sr. HighB− · 43% proficient
- Licking HighC · 33% proficient
- Newburg HighD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Vida school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Vida 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 Vida against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Vida
Is Vida a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Vida ranks 8,684th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on fast internet, affordable childcare, and civic engagement, and lowest on distance from a big city and car insurance costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Vida expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $254,814. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $81,722 median income, cost of living beats 75% of towns.
Is Vida safe?
Yes, Vida is safer than 76% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $273 per resident a year.
Compare Vida with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Vida. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Vida 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.
Vida detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Vida: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Vida: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Vida: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Vida: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Vida 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.