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%

Kennett$680/mo

Typical home $115K (Zillow) · tax rate 0.77% · or rent about $651/mo · Housing →

Jennings$480/mo

Typical home $70K (Zillow) · tax rate 1.99% · or rent about $961/mo · Housing →

The difference: $190 a month, about $2,300 a year, between Kennett and Jennings.

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

Kennett places higher on 14 of 21 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

DKennettSafer than 8% of U.S. towns –JenningsNot graded

Schools

–KennettNot graded DJenningsBetter than 8% of districts in the state

Health

D−KennettHealthier than 3% of U.S. towns D−JenningsHealthier than under 1% of U.S. towns

14Kennett

7Jennings

Lists won, of 21 where both are ranked. Ties go to nobody.

Rent easiest to affordCost of living · 85 towns #11#85 Highest graduation rateSchools · 216 towns #6#170 Closest to a top hospitalHealth · 261 towns #229#51 Lowest depressionHealth · 261 towns #152#16 Shortest commuteGetting around · 261 towns #87#212 Most trailsOutdoors · 151 towns #72#3 Cheapest rentCost of living · 256 towns #16#128 Most remote workersWork · 255 towns #224#126

Left end = #1 in Missouri. Showing the lists where the towns are furthest apart. All of Kennett’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

KennettJennings

Snow a year3″17″

January low30°F 24°F

July high90°F 90°F

Growing season (days)240d 215d

Hazard risk (U.S. pctl)84th 77th

Outdoors & history

KennettJennings

Trails4 mi 9 mi

Conserved land1.4%0.5%

National Register places2 2

Archive photos—12

Community

KennettJennings

Library hours a week48 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

172 miles apart

Straight-line miles between town centers.

KennettMO JenningsMO

Kennett ↔ Jennings172 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

KennettJennings

People

Population 10,196Lowest 12,918Highest

Growth since 20102010 → 2020 census -3.8%Highest MO: +2.8% -12.4%Lowest MO: +2.8%

Median age 41.4±2.2Highest 6% above MO 39.4±4.5Lowest about the MO average

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

Kids under 18 26.2%±3.5Highest MO: 22.3% 25.6%±5.2Lowest MO: 22.3%

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

Age 65+ 20.9%±2.7Highest MO: 17.9% 17.8%±3.1Lowest MO: 17.9%

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

Bachelor’s degree+adults 25+ 15.6%Highest MO: 32.4% 10.8%Lowest MO: 32.4%

Enrolled in collegeshare of residents 1.7%±0.7Lowest MO: 5.7% 2%±1.1Highest MO: 5.7%

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

Cost of living

Household incomemedian $52,500±$14kHighest 26% below MO $38,984±$6kLowest 45% below MO

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

Home valuemedian, owner-occupied $112,000±$16kHighest 51% below MO $68,800±$9kLowest 70% below MO

Rentmedian gross, monthly $651±$123Lowest 37% below MO $961±$78Highest 7% below MO

Property taxmedian, yearly $863Lowest 56% below MO $1,369Highest 30% below MO

Renters paying 30%+of income on rent 29.5%±9.2Lowest MO: 45.6% 65.4%±11.4Highest MO: 45.6%

Below poverty line 19.1%Lowest MO: 12.6% 25.2%Highest MO: 12.6%

Housing

Homeownersof occupied homes 57.9%Highest MO: 68.1% 45.1%Lowest MO: 68.1%

Typical home builtmedian year 1969Highest 9 yrs older than MO 1955Lowest 23 yrs older than MO

Getting to work

Average commuteone way 20 minLowest 15% below MO 27 minHighest 14% above MO

Work from home 3.5%±1.9Lowest MO: 13% 8.8%±3.9Highest MO: 13%

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

Work in townworking residents 38.3%Highest 2%Lowest

Typical commute distancemedian, straight-line 15.8 miHighest 7.8 miLowest

Jobs per working residentover 1.5 = a job hub 1.09Highest 0.48Lowest

Top workplaceoutside town Senath (3%)St. Louis (26%)

Between these townsresidents who work in the others Few work in JenningsFew work in Kennett

Outdoors

Conserved landshare of the town 1.4%Highest 0.5%Lowest

Trailsmapped miles 4.0 miLowest 9.2 miHighest

Trail densitymiles per sq mi 0.6 miLowest 2.5 miHighest

Parks & preservesnamed on the map 5Highest 1Lowest

Street connectivityintersections per sq mi, a walkability measure 98.2Lowest 122Highest

Schools

Public school scoresrank in state, math + reading —#218 of 226 in MO

School district —JENNINGS

High school in town —Jennings High

Students per teacherat that high school — 14.4

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.

Kennett neighborsTown Square →

Your question goes to Kennett’s Town Square.

Jennings neighborsTown Square →

Your question goes to Jennings’s Town Square.

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Towns like Kennett

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Bellefontaine Neighbors10,498 people · $100K homes

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Independence Township11,960 people · $114K homes

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Center Township9,372 people · $149K homes

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Moberly13,526 people · $153K 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.

Kennett vs Jennings

Two towns, two different strengths

Where they part ways

A typical home costs $190 more a month in Kennett

Kennett places higher on 14 of 21 MO lists

What daily life feels like in each

172 miles apart

What matters to you?

Ask the people who live there

Set another town beside Kennett and Jennings

Towns like Kennett

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