Best PlacesWardell, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Wardell, 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.
Wardell ranks 47,635th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and low incomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Wardell
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.
Wardell's strengths and weaknesses
Where Wardell ranks high
- Cheap childcare$316 a month, better than 99% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 84% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 75% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 73% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 73% of towns
Where Wardell ranks low
- Household income$40,865 median, better than only 3% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 6% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 6% of towns
- School gradeD, better than only 7% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 8% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Wardell
A household needs to earn about $13,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Wardell home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $40,865, 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 Wardell's effective rate of 0.94%, 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 3 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Wardell
Wardell 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 Wardell.
Who works in Wardell, and how
Work in Wardell centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 96%
- Work from home 3%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Wardell
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Wardell.
What the weather is like in Wardell, month by month
Wardell sees roughly 83 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 47, with lows near 32. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47° | 39° | 32° |
| April | 73° | 61° | 52° |
| July | 92° | 82° | 73° |
| October | 76° | 63° | 53° |
Flying in and out of Wardell
The nearest airport, Cape Girardeau Regional, is about 62 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 90 miles away.
The best schools in and around Wardell
Schools across Wardell average a D, better than 7% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- South Elem.C · 34% proficient
- Ross Elem.D− · 15% proficient
- Mathis ElementaryD− · 14% proficient
Top middle schools
- Kennett MiddleD · 23% proficient
Top high schools
- Kennett HighC+ · 35% proficient
- Gideon HighD · 20% proficient
- North Pemiscot Sr. HighF · 11% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Wardell school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Wardell 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 Wardell against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Wardell
Is Wardell a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Wardell ranks 47,635th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, walkability, and a stable housing market, and lowest on low incomes and health outcomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Wardell expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $49,408. The overall cost of living runs about 29% below the national average. Set against a $40,865 median income, cost of living beats 15% of towns.
Is Wardell safe?
Wardell is safer than 9% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $676 per resident a year.
Compare Wardell with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Wardell. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Wardell 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.
Wardell detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Wardell: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Wardell: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Wardell: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Wardell: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Wardell 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.