Best PlacesWest Quincy, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around West Quincy, 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.
West Quincy ranks 21,453rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in West Quincy
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.
West Quincy's strengths and weaknesses
Where West Quincy ranks high
- Cheap childcare$456 a month, better than 97% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 88% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 88% of towns
- Short commute20.2 minutes each way, better than 87% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 85% of towns
Where West Quincy ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 13% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 18% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 22% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 24% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 29% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in West Quincy
A household needs to earn about $64,000 a year to comfortably buy the median West Quincy home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $70,139, 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 West Quincy's effective rate of 0.64%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in West Quincy
West Quincy runs older than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for West Quincy.
Who works in West Quincy, and how
Work in West Quincy centers on wholesale trade and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in West Quincy
West Quincy has more restaurants and bars per resident than 99% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of West Quincy and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in West Quincy, month by month
West Quincy sees roughly 94 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 39, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39° | 30° | 24° |
| April | 67° | 55° | 45° |
| July | 88° | 77° | 68° |
| October | 69° | 58° | 49° |
Flying in and out of West Quincy
The nearest airport, Quincy Regional-Baldwin Field, is about 15 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 West Quincy
Schools across West Quincy average a B, better than 64% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Palmyra Elem.B+ · 53% proficient
- Highland Elem.C+ · 37% proficient
Top middle schools
- Palmyra MiddleC · 34% proficient
Top high schools
- Palmyra HighB · 48% proficient
- Highland Jr.-sr. HighC− · 27% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every West Quincy school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
West Quincy 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 West Quincy against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in West Quincy
Is West Quincy a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, West Quincy ranks 21,453rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, civic engagement, and an educated workforce, and lowest on tree cover and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is West Quincy expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $250,000. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $70,139 median income, cost of living beats 52% of towns.
Is West Quincy safe?
West Quincy is safer than 46% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $365 per resident a year.
Compare West Quincy with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to West Quincy. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in West Quincy 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.
West Quincy detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for West Quincy: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in West Quincy: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of West Quincy: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in West Quincy: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
West Quincy 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.