Three Missouri Cities Ranked Among ‘Best Hometowns’ in Nation

ST. LOUIS — There’s no place like home, and new research suggests the old adage really holds true for three cities in Missouri.

All Star Home, a home improvement website, recently released a study ranking “America’s Best Hometowns.”

The study intends to highlight smaller and lesser-known U.S. cities that offer a strong sense of community, affordability, and “small town charm.” Safety and education were also large factors.

According to All Star Home, the following three Missouri cities were named among the nation’s best hometowns:

One common denominator between these three cities: All three are located in the northern part of Missouri. Hannibal and Kirksville both have a population of around 17,000 people. St. Joseph has a population of around 72,000 and ranks within the top 10 Missouri cities in size.

For cities that qualified, All Star Home gave each a community score. The research team considered diversity by state, farmer’s markets in the vicinity, historical buildings, and the average winning percentage of the area’s high school football teams. The community score was largely considered in the overall score.

Hannibal, the longtime home of famous author Mark Twain, finished in the Top 10 of the overall “best hometown” rankings. Hannibal was also recognized for friendly home costs (around $138,000 per home), and its overall score of 62 (out of 100) was tied for sixth-best.

Kirksville was ranked the fourth-best U.S. city in student-to-teacher ratio, averaging around 12 students per teacher. St. Joseph was recognized within the top five hometowns for historical buildings (57) and community farmers markets (21).

And not too far away from Hannibal, just across the Missouri state line, Quincy, Illinois, also finished among the top 15 overall scores in the “best hometown” rankings.

All Star Home reports that information from the following sources were utilized in order to conduct the study and determine rankings: