Suppose real estate is the most significant investment a majority of people make in their lifetime. In that case, it’s best to understand the places in Missouri with best potential return on investment.
After working in real estate adjacent roles for over a decade, I had the hypothesis that the best place to buy for a return on investment would be up-and-coming cities. Smaller cities where crime might be high now, but people still move to.
To test my hypothesis, we are going to look at places in Missouri that are growing faster than average, but where home prices are below average, and crime rates are higher than average.
In everyday terms, these might be “deals”. The best deal in Missouri at the moment according to Saturday Night Science? That would be Wright City.
Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table
The 10 Best Places To Buy A Home In Missouri For 2026
The methodology that wen’t into this can be a bit complicated, so we’ll break it down for you in as much detail as we can below.
For more Missouri reading:
- Best Counties To Live In Missouri
- Best Places To Raise A Family In Missouri
- Best Places To Retire In Missouri
The 10 Best Cities To Buy A House In Missouri For 2026
/10
Population: 5,240
Median Home Price: $307,151
Population Change: 4.3%
Home Price Change: 0.2%
More on Wright City: Data | Movers
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Population: 5,053
Median Home Price: $266,126
Population Change: -0.2%
Home Price Change: 1.5%
More on Savannah: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers
/10
Population: 5,620
Median Home Price: $256,903
Population Change: 0.6%
Home Price Change: 3.4%
More on Odessa: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers
/10
Population: 5,442
Median Home Price: $242,454
Population Change: 0.4%
Home Price Change: 1.1%
More on Waynesville: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers
/10
Population: 5,958
Median Home Price: $357,230
Population Change: 2.5%
Home Price Change: 1.7%
More on Peculiar: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers
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Population: 5,466
Median Home Price: $175,280
Population Change: 0.2%
Home Price Change: 2.3%
More on Macon: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers
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Population: 5,937
Median Home Price: $491,928
Population Change: 3.3%
Home Price Change: 4.2%
More on Cottleville: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers
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Population: 5,326
Median Home Price: $77,791
Population Change: -1.8%
Home Price Change: -7.7%
More on Caruthersville: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers
Methodology: How do you determine the best places to buy a home in Missouri for 2026?
We were in real estate for almost five years and have worked on this site for another 11. Suffice it to say we’ve put a lot of thought into finding an excellent place to buy a home.
So all that thinking has come to this moment where we get to spell out how we’d approach finding an up-and-coming place to live in Missouri. Put differently, the analysis will try to find places in Missouri with undervalued homes relative to pent-up demand using Saturday Night Science.
To do that, we looked at the most recent American Community Survey Census data for 2020-2024 and compared it to the previous vintage. Specifically, we used the following criteria:
- Y-o-Y Change In Population (People want to live here)
- Y-o-Y Change In Median Home Prices (People are willing to pay for it)
- Home Prices Relative To The State Average (It’s still kinda cheap)
We want places that are growing, have seen home prices increase in recent years, and are still “cheap” for Missouri with the following caveats:
- Home prices had to be within 20% of the state average (Much lower than that, and you get to some of the more dangerous places)
- Home prices increased in the last year, and
- Above 5,000 people (Bigger cities have more data points)
So of the 0 cities and towns in Missouri, only 131 places made it through our initial filters to even be considered.
We then ranked each place from 1 to 131 for the above criteria, with 1 being the best. We averaged the rankings to create a “best place to buy” index, with the place having the lowest index being the best.
Turns out that Wright City is the best potential gem in the not-so-rough in the Show Me State.
Summary: The Best Places To Purchase A House In Missouri for 2026
There’s our analysis of the best places to buy a house in Missouri. And, to be clear, we aren’t necessarily saying these places are the best places to live, just that it looks like they might be in a couple of years based on the data.
In fact, every place in the following table meets our criteria, so even though it may not look super long, remember we started off with all 0 places in the state.
The best cities to buy a house in Missouri are Wright City, Herculaneum, Ste. Genevieve, Savannah, Odessa, Waynesville, Peculiar, Macon, Cottleville, and Caruthersville.
So if we’d could rent or buy in these cities, we’d definitely buy.
For more Missouri reading, check out:
Best Places To Buy A Home In Missouri
| Rank | City | Population | Median Home Price | Population Change | Home Price Increase |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wright City | 5,240 | $307,151 | 4.3% | 0.2% |
| 2 | Herculaneum | 5,071 | $299,330 | 3.0% | 1.8% |
| 3 | Ste. Genevieve | 5,010 | $196,909 | 0.3% | -0.0% |
| 4 | Savannah | 5,053 | $266,126 | -0.2% | 1.5% |
| 5 | Odessa | 5,620 | $256,903 | 0.6% | 3.4% |
| 6 | Waynesville | 5,442 | $242,454 | 0.4% | 1.1% |
| 7 | Peculiar | 5,958 | $357,230 | 2.5% | 1.7% |
| 8 | Macon | 5,466 | $175,280 | 0.2% | 2.3% |
| 9 | Cottleville | 5,937 | $491,928 | 3.3% | 4.2% |
| 10 | Caruthersville | 5,326 | $77,791 | -1.8% | -7.7% |
| 11 | Weldon Spring | 5,310 | $629,190 | 0.4% | 0.8% |
| 12 | Willard | 6,488 | $272,134 | 1.1% | 1.7% |
| 13 | Richmond | 5,959 | $233,566 | -0.3% | 0.9% |
| 14 | Trenton | 5,536 | $110,674 | -0.1% | 0.1% |
| 15 | Glendale | 6,114 | $565,844 | 0.0% | 3.7% |
| 16 | Pevely | 6,055 | $273,663 | 0.3% | 1.1% |
| 17 | Greenwood | 6,013 | $355,951 | 0.2% | 0.7% |
| 18 | Shrewsbury | 6,316 | $285,843 | -0.2% | 1.6% |
| 19 | St. Robert | 5,356 | $231,889 | 0.5% | -0.7% |
| 20 | De Soto | 6,470 | $245,845 | 0.3% | 3.2% |
| 21 | St. John | 6,527 | $137,115 | -0.5% | 4.3% |
| 22 | Battlefield | 6,165 | $303,752 | 1.1% | 2.7% |
| 23 | Sullivan | 6,310 | $203,783 | -0.7% | 4.7% |
| 24 | Pacific | 7,475 | $245,537 | 2.4% | 1.9% |
| 25 | Valley Park | 6,795 | $295,375 | -0.3% | 2.1% |
| 26 | Black Jack | 6,589 | $217,915 | -0.3% | 2.3% |
| 27 | Bonne Terre | 6,683 | $201,860 | -1.3% | 1.7% |
| 28 | Parkville | 8,366 | $578,744 | 4.3% | 1.4% |
| 29 | Marshfield | 7,696 | $253,421 | 1.3% | 2.9% |
| 30 | Aurora | 7,397 | $176,040 | 0.9% | 1.9% |
| 31 | Olivette | 8,645 | $488,323 | 1.2% | 0.9% |
| 32 | Dexter | 7,891 | $160,389 | -0.2% | -1.9% |
| 33 | Brentwood | 8,144 | $265,327 | -0.1% | 0.4% |
| 34 | Maplewood | 8,156 | $267,091 | 0.0% | 3.7% |
| 35 | Nevada | 7,925 | $160,100 | -0.9% | 1.5% |
| 36 | Carl Junction | 8,339 | $250,863 | 1.0% | 1.0% |
| 37 | Oak Grove | 8,538 | $291,502 | 0.7% | 1.3% |
| 38 | Boonville | 7,689 | $192,609 | 0.1% | 0.8% |
| 39 | Warrenton | 9,066 | $299,572 | 2.2% | 1.1% |
| 40 | Sunset Hills | 9,112 | $610,688 | -0.0% | 3.7% |
| 41 | Perryville | 8,536 | $222,681 | 0.1% | 2.1% |
| 42 | Park Hills | 8,678 | $153,551 | 0.1% | 1.7% |
| 43 | Richmond Heights | 9,153 | $390,829 | -0.3% | 4.1% |
| 44 | Pleasant Hill | 8,847 | $364,998 | -0.1% | 2.5% |
| 45 | Ladue | 8,940 | $1,331,344 | -0.1% | 3.9% |
| 46 | Des Peres | 9,170 | $693,376 | 0.3% | 4.1% |
| 47 | Clinton | 9,065 | $170,925 | 0.2% | 0.7% |
| 48 | Berkeley | 8,123 | $97,156 | -0.3% | 6.6% |
| 49 | Cameron | 8,519 | $243,891 | -2.3% | 3.4% |
| 50 | Monett | 9,873 | $180,956 | 1.4% | 0.4% |
| 51 | Chillicothe | 8,923 | $185,819 | -2.3% | 0.8% |
| 52 | Ellisville | 10,002 | $403,570 | 0.9% | 3.0% |
| 53 | Kennett | 10,196 | $111,347 | -0.4% | 3.5% |
| 54 | Harrisonville | 9,970 | $294,225 | -0.3% | 3.0% |
| 55 | Eureka | 13,081 | $403,523 | 5.7% | 0.2% |
| 56 | Smithville | 10,705 | $371,403 | 1.4% | -0.3% |
| 57 | Bellefontaine Neighbors | 10,498 | $102,414 | -0.6% | 1.8% |
| 58 | Kearney | 10,885 | $390,529 | 1.8% | 0.3% |
| 59 | Bolivar | 11,170 | $252,895 | 1.6% | 0.1% |
| 60 | Town And Country | 11,607 | $1,146,741 | 0.0% | 4.0% |
| 61 | Branson | 12,817 | $248,360 | 0.4% | 0.9% |
| 62 | Mexico | 11,477 | $180,700 | -0.1% | 4.0% |
| 63 | Bridgeton | 11,369 | $273,069 | -0.0% | 1.5% |
| 64 | Maryville | 10,428 | $222,766 | -1.2% | -1.2% |
| 65 | Excelsior Springs | 10,484 | $223,588 | -0.2% | 0.3% |
| 66 | Crestwood | 12,295 | $339,628 | -0.0% | 2.4% |
| 67 | Webb City | 13,221 | $222,929 | 0.6% | -0.0% |
| 68 | Union | 12,781 | $257,223 | 1.8% | 1.9% |
| 69 | Neosho | 13,224 | $227,219 | 2.9% | 2.8% |
| 70 | Festus | 13,201 | $299,934 | 1.8% | 0.7% |
| 71 | West Plains | 12,441 | $221,521 | 0.8% | -1.3% |
| 72 | Troy | 13,947 | $311,432 | 3.6% | 1.6% |
| 73 | St. Ann | 12,811 | $157,309 | -0.4% | 2.9% |
| 74 | Fulton | 12,617 | $245,451 | 0.0% | 3.9% |
| 75 | Marshall | 13,739 | $181,309 | 0.3% | -1.0% |
| 76 | Dardenne Prairie | 13,503 | $469,902 | 2.8% | 0.7% |
| 77 | Moberly | 13,526 | $158,147 | -0.8% | 3.0% |
| 78 | Washington | 15,130 | $306,588 | 1.2% | 0.9% |
| 79 | Grain Valley | 16,271 | $326,296 | 1.9% | 0.7% |
| 80 | Jennings | 12,918 | $73,368 | 0.1% | 7.8% |
| 81 | Carthage | 15,574 | $234,176 | 0.4% | -0.0% |
| 82 | Lebanon | 15,270 | $228,788 | 0.7% | 3.0% |
| 83 | Jackson | 15,659 | $271,918 | 0.8% | 1.0% |
| 84 | Overland | 15,695 | $150,450 | -0.4% | 3.3% |
| 85 | Lake St. Louis | 18,066 | $431,421 | 3.0% | 1.0% |
| 86 | Republic | 19,829 | $268,263 | 3.1% | 1.8% |
| 87 | Sikeston | 16,320 | $158,610 | 0.5% | 6.4% |
| 88 | Clayton | 17,380 | $871,222 | 0.6% | 4.2% |
| 89 | Poplar Bluff | 16,254 | $170,053 | 0.1% | 5.1% |
| 90 | Hannibal | 16,771 | $172,131 | -0.3% | 0.9% |
| 91 | Kirksville | 17,563 | $150,864 | 0.4% | 0.9% |
| 92 | Manchester | 18,160 | $374,848 | -0.2% | 2.5% |
| 93 | Creve Coeur | 18,643 | $614,771 | 0.0% | 4.1% |
| 94 | Farmington | 18,282 | $254,728 | 1.6% | 0.7% |
| 95 | Ozark | 22,417 | $316,346 | 2.1% | 1.5% |
| 96 | Rolla | 20,287 | $237,604 | 0.7% | 2.2% |
| 97 | Warrensburg | 19,582 | $266,467 | 0.7% | 2.3% |
| 98 | Ferguson | 18,213 | $116,377 | -0.7% | 0.9% |
| 99 | Arnold | 20,956 | $273,572 | 0.3% | 1.8% |
| 100 | Sedalia | 22,003 | $182,164 | 0.6% | 1.6% |