A typical home in each town, bought with 20% down at 6.3% for 30 years, plus property tax at the town’s own rate and insurance. Change the numbers to fit you.

Down paymentRate%

Festus$1,780/mo

Typical home $306K (Zillow) · tax rate 0.68% · or rent about $922/mo · Housing →

Sikeston$950/mo

Typical home $164K (Zillow) · tax rate 0.68% · or rent about $891/mo · Housing →

The difference: $830 a month, about $9,900 a year, between Festus and Sikeston.

Estimates, not a quote: your price, rate, tax bill and insurance will differ. Tax rate = the Census median tax bill over the median home value.

Report cards

Festus places higher on 18 of 25 MO lists

Our letter grades for safety, schools and health, then every Missouri ranking list both towns are on. A grade is one measure; read the page behind it.

Safety

B−FestusSafer than 54% of U.S. towns D−SikestonSafer than 2% of U.S. towns

Schools

AFestusBetter than 90% of districts in the state C+SikestonBetter than 37% of districts in the state

Health

CFestusHealthier than 26% of U.S. towns DSikestonHealthier than 10% of U.S. towns

18Festus

7Sikeston

Lists won, of 25 where both are ranked. Ties go to nobody.

Closest to a top hospitalHealth · 261 towns #25#240 Rent easiest to affordCost of living · 85 towns #9#71 Shortest commuteGetting around · 261 towns #210#23 Best schoolsSchools · 226 towns #15#160 SafestSafety · 156 towns #52#147 Most-used librariesLibraries · 50 towns #19#47 Most new homesHousing · 200 towns #25#135 Most walkableOutdoors · 261 towns #54#191

Left end = #1 in Missouri. Showing the lists where the towns are furthest apart. All of Festus’s rankings →

Life in each

What daily life feels like in each

The weather, the land, the history and the people, row by row. None of it is a grade: more snow is a plus to a skier.

Seasons

FestusSikeston

Snow a year9″3″

January low22°F 28°F

July high88°F 91°F

Growing season (days)197d 225d

Hazard risk (U.S. pctl)63rd 87th

Outdoors & history

FestusSikeston

Trails0 mi 13 mi

Conserved land5.3%1.5%

Settled1887 1860

National Register places—3

Community

FestusSikeston

Library hours a week53 hrs 54 hrs

Posts this month0 0

Neighbors joined0 0

A dot marks the most on each row. Climate: NOAA 1991–2020 normals at the nearest station. Hazard risk: FEMA National Risk Index, expected yearly damage vs U.S. towns.

Where they are

103 miles apart

Straight-line miles between town centers.

FestusMO SikestonMO

Festus ↔ Sikeston103 miles apart

Everything, side by side

What matters to you?

Pick a few. Those rows jump to the top and the best fit on each is marked. There’s no overall score: what matters is up to you.

Only big differences vs Missouri average

FestusSikeston

People

Population 13,201Lowest 16,320Highest

Growth since 20102010 → 2020 census +9.5%Highest MO: +2.8% -0.2%Lowest MO: +2.8%

Median age 36.7±1.7Lowest 6% below MO 38.2±2.6Highest about the MO average

Sikeston and Festus are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Kids under 18 27.8%±4.4Highest MO: 22.3% 25.3%±2.6Lowest MO: 22.3%

Festus and Sikeston are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Age 65+ 15.8%±2.7Lowest MO: 17.9% 21.7%±2.4Highest MO: 17.9%

Bachelor’s degree+adults 25+ 24.4%Lowest MO: 32.4% 27.5%Highest MO: 32.4%

Enrolled in collegeshare of residents 3.7%±2.2Highest MO: 5.7% 3.3%±1.1Lowest MO: 5.7%

Festus and Sikeston are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Cost of living

Household incomemedian $73,532±$8kHighest 4% above MO $58,915±$4kLowest 17% below MO

Home valuemedian, owner-occupied $223,600±$13kHighest about the MO average $168,800±$11kLowest 27% below MO

Rentmedian gross, monthly $922±$36Highest 11% below MO $891±$51Lowest 14% below MO

Festus and Sikeston are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Property taxmedian, yearly $1,520Highest 22% below MO $1,148Lowest 41% below MO

Renters paying 30%+of income on rent 28.6%±9.4Lowest MO: 45.6% 50.5%±9.4Highest MO: 45.6%

Below poverty line 17.1%Highest MO: 12.6% 14.2%Lowest MO: 12.6%

Housing

Homeownersof occupied homes 57.8%Lowest MO: 68.1% 60.5%Highest MO: 68.1%

Typical home builtmedian year 1983Highest 5 yrs newer than MO 1975Lowest 3 yrs older than MO

Getting to work

Average commuteone way 26 minHighest 12% above MO 16 minLowest 33% below MO

Work from home 8.5%±2.4Highest MO: 13% 3.7%±1.4Lowest MO: 13%

Work in townworking residents 9%Lowest 44%Highest

Typical commute distancemedian, straight-line 25.8 miHighest 4.8 miLowest

Jobs per working residentover 1.5 = a job hub 0.72Lowest 1.63Highest

Top workplaceoutside town St. Louis (12%)Cape Girardeau (6%)

Between these townsresidents who work in the others Few work in SikestonFew work in Festus

Outdoors

Conserved landshare of the town 5.3%Highest 1.5%Lowest

Trailsmapped miles 0.2 miLowest 12.7 miHighest

Trail densitymiles per sq mi 0.0 miLowest 0.7 miHighest

Parks & preservesnamed on the map 3 3

Street connectivityintersections per sq mi, a walkability measure 92.2Highest 45.6Lowest

Schools

Public school scoresrank in state, math + reading #15 of 226 in MO #160 of 226 in MO

School district FESTUS R-VIDIVISION OF YOUTH SERVICE · SIKESTON R-6

High school in town Festus SR. HighSikeston Senior High School

Students per teacherat that high school 18.0Highest 15.6Lowest

Missouri average“±” Census margin of errorACS 2020–2024

Deciding?

Ask the people who live there

The numbers stop at the town line. Neighbors can tell you about the commute at 7am, the schools, the winters and the feel of the place.

Festus neighborsTown Square →

Your question goes to Festus’s Town Square.

Sikeston neighborsTown Square →

Your question goes to Sikeston’s Town Square.

Add a town

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One tap adds it. Up to 4 towns at once.

Bordering Festus

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Crystal City4,718 people · $186K homes

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Herculaneum5,071 people · $234K homes

Towns like Festus

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Union12,781 people · $205K homes

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Republic19,829 people · $212K homes

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Bolivar11,170 people · $202K homes

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Belton25,008 people · $203K homes

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2010 & 2020 censuses, LEHD commute flows; Zillow Home Value Index; NCES Common Core of Data; FBI crime reporting; CDC PLACES; FEMA National Risk Index; NOAA U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020; USGS PAD-US and OpenStreetMap. “±” is the Census margin of error; differences inside it are never called. Property tax is top-coded by the Census at $10,000+. There is no overall score: which town is better depends on what matters to you.

Festus vs Sikeston

Two towns, two different strengths

Where they part ways

A typical home costs $830 more a month in Festus

Festus places higher on 18 of 25 MO lists

What daily life feels like in each

103 miles apart

What matters to you?

Ask the people who live there

Set another town beside Festus and Sikeston

Bordering Festus

Towns like Festus

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