Best PlacesWashington Center, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Washington Center, 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.
Washington Center ranks 38,683rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and biking ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Washington Center
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.
Washington Center's strengths and weaknesses
Where Washington Center ranks high
- Cheap childcare$397 a month, better than 99% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 73% of towns
- QuietBetter than 66% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 61% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 59% of towns
Where Washington Center ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 7% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 8% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 16% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 21% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Washington Center
A household needs to earn about $51,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Washington Center home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $63,620, 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 Washington Center's effective rate of 0.72%, 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 Washington Center
Washington Center 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 Washington Center.
Who works in Washington Center, and how
Work in Washington Center centers on agriculture & forestry and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Washington Center
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Washington Center.
What the weather is like in Washington Center, month by month
Washington Center sees roughly 88 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 25° | 18° |
| April | 64° | 51° | 41° |
| July | 86° | 76° | 67° |
| October | 66° | 54° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Washington Center
The nearest airport, Des Moines International, is about 80 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 84 miles away.
The best schools in and around Washington Center
Schools across Washington Center average a C, better than 34% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- North Harrison Elem.B · 45% proficient
- South Harrison Elem.B− · 43% proficient
- Worth Co. ElementaryB− · 42% proficient
Top high schools
- North Harrison HighC− · 30% proficient
- Worth Co. HighC− · 27% proficient
- Ridgeway HighD− · 15% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Washington Center school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Washington Center 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 Washington Center against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Washington Center
Is Washington Center a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Washington Center ranks 38,683rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, state finances, and quiet, and lowest on biking and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Washington Center expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $198,200. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $63,620 median income, cost of living beats 45% of towns.
Is Washington Center safe?
Washington Center is safer than 21% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $508 per resident a year.
Compare Washington Center with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Washington Center. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Washington Center 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.
Washington Center detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Washington Center: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Washington Center: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Washington Center: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Washington Center: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Washington Center 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.