The 10 Best Places To Buy A House In Missouri For 2022


Using science and data, we can tell you which places in Missouri have seen home prices rising and people flocking over the past year.

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Editor’s note: This is not investment advice and we are not financial advisers. Article updated for 2022.

There's a the age old question everyone thinks about when they decide to move to a city in Missouri:

Should I buy a place or rent? Well, we aren't here today to solve that problem for you exactly. We are just assuming you'll do the right thing and a buy a place. And while we are happy to tell you the best place to live in Missouri, this analysis is going to tackle the question of the best place to buy a house as an investor. That is we are going to try and determine the up and coming cities in the Show Me State.

To do that we are going to look at places in Missouri that are growing faster than average, but where home prices are below average. In every day terms, the "deals". The best deal in Missouri at the moment? That would be Dellwood according to our analysis.

Here's a look at the top ten places to buy a home in Missouri for 2022.

The 10 Best Places To Buy A Home In Missouri For 2022

  1. Dellwood
  2. Savannah
  3. Odessa
  4. Bowling Green
  5. Waynesville
  6. Peculiar
  7. Macon
  8. Cottleville
  9. Charleston
  10. Caruthersville

What's the best place to buy a home in Missouri for 2022? According to our analysis, would the the ideal place to buy a home looking into the future.

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. If you're not worried about finding a deal on good places to live, check out the most expensive places to live in Missouri and, for those of you on a budget, the cheapest places to live in Missouri.

For more Missouri reading, check out:

The 10 Best Cities To Buy A House In Missouri For 2022

1. Dellwood

Dellwood, MO

Source: Wikipedia
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 5,010
Median Home Price: $72,900
Population Change: -0.1%
Home Price Change: 1.5%
More on Dellwood: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data

2. Savannah

Savannah, MO

Source: Wikipedia User Ichabod | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 5,170
Median Home Price: $113,100
Population Change: 0.2%
Home Price Change: -0.4%
More on Savannah: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data

3. Odessa

Odessa, MO

Source: Flickr User pasa47 | CC BY 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 5,240
Median Home Price: $152,900
Population Change: 0.6%
Home Price Change: 10.9%
More on Odessa: Homes For Sale | Data

4. Bowling Green

Bowling Green, MO

Source: Wikipedia User FlickreviewR 2 | CC BY 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 5,259
Median Home Price: $85,100
Population Change: -4.7%
Home Price Change: -2.0%
More on Bowling Green: Homes For Sale | Data

5. Waynesville

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 5,260
Median Home Price: $169,400
Population Change: 0.1%
Home Price Change: -9.2%
More on Waynesville: Homes For Sale | Data

6. Peculiar

Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 5,305
Median Home Price: $147,800
Population Change: 3.2%
Home Price Change: 0.5%
More on Peculiar: Homes For Sale | Data

7. Macon

Macon, MO

Source: Wikipedia User Catfilmnoir a.k.a. Carol | CC BY-SA 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 5,357
Median Home Price: $93,300
Population Change: -0.0%
Home Price Change: -1.6%
More on Macon: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data

8. Cottleville

Cottleville, MO

Source: Flickr User MTHarden | CC BY-SA 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

9
/10

Population: 5,439
Median Home Price: $348,400
Population Change: 4.6%
Home Price Change: 13.1%
More on Cottleville: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data

9. Charleston

Charleston, MO

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 5,478
Median Home Price: $66,800
Population Change: -2.4%
Home Price Change: -7.7%
More on Charleston: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data

10. Caruthersville

Caruthersville, MO

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

2
/10

Population: 5,518
Median Home Price: $101,100
Population Change: -1.7%
Home Price Change: 6.9%
More on Caruthersville: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data

Methodology: How do you determine the best places to buy a home in Missouri for 2022?

We were in real estate for almost five years and have been working on this site for another three. Suffice is to say, we've put a lot of thought into what goes into finding a good 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.

Best Places To Raise A Family In Missouri

To do that we looked at the most recent American Community Survey Census data for 2016-2020 and compared it to the previous vintage (2012-2016). 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:

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 criteria mentioned above with 1 being the best for that criteria. We averaged the rankings to create a "best place to buy" index with the place having the lowest index being the best. You can download the data here.

Turns out that Dellwood is the best potential gem in the not-so-rough in the Show Me State.

Read on for more on these places.

Summary: The Best Places To Purchase A House In Missouri for 2022

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.

So if we'd could rent or buy in these cities, we'd definitely buy.

For more Missouri reading, check out:

Home Prices By City In Missouri

City Rank Median Home Price Population Change Home Price Increase
Dellwood 1 $72,900 -0.1% 1.5%
Savannah 2 $113,100 0.2% -0.4%
Odessa 3 $152,900 0.6% 10.9%
Bowling Green 4 $85,100 -4.7% -2.0%
Waynesville 5 $169,400 0.1% -9.2%
Peculiar 6 $147,800 3.2% 0.5%
Macon 7 $93,300 -0.0% -1.6%
Cottleville 8 $348,400 4.6% 13.1%
Charleston 9 $66,800 -2.4% -7.7%
Caruthersville 10 $101,100 -1.7% 6.9%
Weldon Spring 11 $407,200 0.1% 2.5%
Willard 12 $142,100 0.9% 1.9%
Richmond 13 $98,600 -0.1% -2.2%
Trenton 14 $92,200 -1.6% 1.1%
Glendale 15 $415,900 -0.2% 0.3%
Pevely 16 $138,600 0.7% 4.6%
Greenwood 17 $188,700 -2.9% 10.7%
Shrewsbury 18 $193,400 -0.7% 11.0%
St. Robert 19 $180,200 1.2% -4.5%
De Soto 20 $112,200 -0.3% 0.0%
St. John 21 $78,400 -0.4% 0.1%
Battlefield 22 $161,400 2.2% 2.4%
Sullivan 23 $112,900 -1.0% 7.9%
Pacific 24 $169,500 7.0% 17.5%
Valley Park 25 $179,200 0.2% -0.3%
Black Jack 26 $134,300 -0.0% 5.2%
Bonne Terre 27 $103,900 -1.8% 16.2%
Parkville 28 $420,900 5.9% 2.3%
Marshfield 29 $132,200 1.5% 13.1%
Aurora 30 $85,400 0.3% 8.7%
Olivette 31 $375,800 -0.2% 11.2%
Dexter 32 $85,400 0.1% -3.0%
Brentwood 33 $237,800 -0.2% 3.9%
Maplewood 34 $183,500 0.3% -3.2%
Nevada 35 $73,500 -1.4% 3.4%
Carl Junction 36 $164,500 1.6% 13.7%
Oak Grove 37 $146,100 0.7% 8.5%
Boonville 38 $133,400 -1.4% 17.8%
Warrenton 39 $147,200 2.0% 15.3%
Sunset Hills 40 $416,300 -0.1% 6.1%
Perryville 41 $139,700 0.6% 8.0%
Park Hills 42 $82,300 -0.4% 12.4%
Richmond Heights 43 $256,400 1.0% 1.1%
Pleasant Hill 44 $196,200 1.2% 10.0%
Ladue 45 $775,600 0.3% -6.8%
Des Peres 46 $459,900 0.4% 2.2%
Clinton 47 $111,600 -3.6% 12.4%
Berkeley 48 $63,100 -0.2% -0.9%
Cameron 49 $116,300 -7.5% 2.7%
Monett 50 $99,800 0.6% -6.6%
Chillicothe 51 $90,900 -0.6% -0.3%
Ellisville 52 $273,500 0.9% 9.1%
Kennett 53 $91,400 0.1% -0.2%
Harrisonville 54 $140,800 0.4% 2.8%
Eureka 55 $280,400 -4.3% 0.9%
Smithville 56 $203,500 3.9% 4.6%
Bellefontaine Neighbors 57 $62,900 -0.7% -0.8%
Kearney 58 $206,300 3.6% 9.3%
Bolivar 59 $131,500 1.1% 17.8%
Town And Country 60 $747,300 0.3% 1.7%
Branson 61 $168,200 1.0% 6.8%
Mexico 62 $86,900 -0.1% -6.1%
Bridgeton 63 $175,400 -0.2% 4.0%
Maryville 64 $130,200 -0.5% -0.2%
Excelsior Springs 65 $141,000 0.4% 4.1%
Crestwood 66 $229,100 -0.1% 9.8%
Webb City 67 $119,100 1.4% 19.6%
Union 68 $152,800 4.0% 2.7%
Neosho 69 $100,200 0.4% 7.4%
Festus 70 $150,600 0.6% 9.8%
West Plains 71 $95,400 0.5% -4.3%
Troy 72 $155,000 3.1% 4.7%
St. Ann 73 $92,000 -0.4% 2.3%
Fulton 74 $122,100 -0.6% -3.7%
Marshall 75 $114,400 -0.2% 3.8%
Dardenne Prairie 76 $317,400 0.7% 5.3%
Moberly 77 $102,400 0.0% 8.8%
Washington 78 $167,500 0.3% 1.5%
Grain Valley 79 $186,100 2.1% 6.7%
Jennings 80 $62,500 -0.3% -3.5%
Carthage 81 $90,400 -0.1% 2.0%
Lebanon 82 $105,100 0.6% 5.3%
Jackson 83 $173,400 0.1% 5.2%
Overland 84 $89,800 -0.5% 0.9%
Lake St. Louis 85 $284,000 2.3% 3.5%
Republic 86 $134,400 2.0% 2.6%
Sikeston 87 $130,400 2.9% 7.4%
Clayton 88 $605,700 1.1% -4.4%
Poplar Bluff 89 $104,300 -0.3% 12.9%
Hannibal 90 $113,800 -0.0% 8.1%
Kirksville 91 $116,500 0.5% -1.6%
Manchester 92 $239,700 -0.0% 4.4%
Creve Coeur 93 $443,700 0.5% 10.3%
Farmington 94 $134,900 1.5% 0.5%
Ozark 95 $161,600 2.3% 4.9%
Rolla 96 $143,700 0.5% 9.6%
Warrensburg 97 $163,900 0.9% 2.2%
Ferguson 98 $78,500 -0.5% -6.0%
Arnold 99 $165,700 -0.0% 5.1%
Sedalia 100 $99,900 0.0% 10.4%
Download The Entire Missouri Ranking Data

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About Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.

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