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%

Piney Township$710/mo

Typical home $124K (Census) · tax rate 0.59% · or rent about $671/mo · Housing →

Sugar Creek$1,090/mo

Typical home $177K (Zillow) · tax rate 1.11% · or rent about $1,155/mo · Housing →

The difference: $380 a month, about $4,500 a year, between Sugar Creek and Piney Township.

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

Grades and rankings, side by side

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

–Piney TownshipNot graded DSugar CreekSafer than 13% of U.S. towns

Schools

C+Piney TownshipBetter than 35% of districts in the state C+Sugar CreekBetter than 38% of districts in the state

Health

DPiney TownshipHealthier than 6% of U.S. towns DSugar CreekHealthier than 8% of U.S. towns

9Piney Township

9Sugar Creek

Lists won, of 19 where both are ranked. Ties go to nobody.

Most conserved landOutdoors · 235 towns #200#25 Cheapest rentCost of living · 256 towns #22#188 Most trailsOutdoors · 151 towns #145#49 Lowest property taxCost of living · 259 towns #20#137 Closest to a top hospitalHealth · 261 towns #215#102 Highest incomeIncome · 261 towns #219#124 Lowest depressionHealth · 261 towns #152#240 Shortest commuteGetting around · 261 towns #98#173

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

Piney TownshipSugar Creek

Snow a year4″13″

January low24°F 19°F

July high87°F 87°F

Growing season (days)194d 198d

Hazard risk (U.S. pctl)52nd 37th

Outdoors & history

Piney TownshipSugar Creek

Trails9 mi 8 mi

Conserved land0.7%6.8%

Archive photos—9

Community

Piney TownshipSugar Creek

Library hours a week44 hrs 36 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

182 miles apart

Straight-line miles between town centers.

Piney TownshipTexas County Sugar CreekMO

Piney Township ↔ Sugar Creek182 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

Piney TownshipSugar Creek

People

Population 4,871Highest 3,249Lowest

Growth since 20102010 → 2020 census -0.9%Highest MO: +2.8% -2.2%Lowest MO: +2.8%

Median age 41±3.9Highest 5% above MO 40.2±4.6Lowest 3% above MO

Piney Township and Sugar Creek are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Kids under 18 23.4%±4.2Lowest MO: 22.3% 24.3%±8.8Highest MO: 22.3%

Sugar Creek and Piney Township are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Age 65+ 18.1%±3.1Highest MO: 17.9% 14.9%±4.6Lowest MO: 17.9%

Piney Township and Sugar Creek are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Bachelor’s degree+adults 25+ 21.2%Lowest MO: 32.4% 23%Highest MO: 32.4%

Enrolled in collegeshare of residents 0.7%±0.8Lowest MO: 5.7% 3.3%±2.5Highest MO: 5.7%

Sugar Creek and Piney Township are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Cost of living

Household incomemedian $47,462±$5kLowest 33% below MO $62,165±$12kHighest 12% below MO

Sugar Creek and Piney Township are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Home valuemedian, owner-occupied $123,900±$20kLowest 46% below MO $136,600±$46kHighest 41% below MO

Sugar Creek and Piney Township are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Rentmedian gross, monthly $671±$62Lowest 35% below MO $1,155±$222Highest 12% above MO

Property taxmedian, yearly $735Lowest 62% below MO $1,523Highest 22% below MO

Renters paying 30%+of income on rent 51.6%±8.8Highest MO: 45.6% 25.7%±16Lowest MO: 45.6%

Below poverty line 26.7%Highest MO: 12.6% 14.6%Lowest MO: 12.6%

Housing

Homeownersof occupied homes 71.9%Lowest MO: 68.1% 74.7%Highest MO: 68.1%

Typical home builtmedian year 1975Highest 3 yrs older than MO 1953Lowest 25 yrs older than MO

Getting to work

Average commuteone way 20 minLowest 13% below MO 24 minHighest about the MO average

Work from home 4.4%±1.9Highest MO: 13% 4%±3.9Lowest MO: 13%

Piney Township and Sugar Creek are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Work in townworking residents 33%Highest 2.8%Lowest

Typical commute distancemedian, straight-line 20.8 miHighest 9.8 miLowest

Jobs per working residentover 1.5 = a job hub 1.29Highest 0.66Lowest

Top workplaceoutside town Houston (31%)Kansas City (33%)

Between these townsresidents who work in the others Few work in Sugar CreekFew work in Piney Township

Outdoors

Conserved landshare of the town 0.7%Lowest 6.8%Highest

Trailsmapped miles 8.6 miHighest 8.1 miLowest

Trail densitymiles per sq mi 0.1 miLowest 0.7 miHighest

Parks & preservesnamed on the map 5Lowest 8Highest

Street connectivityintersections per sq mi, a walkability measure 4.9Lowest 19.4Highest

Schools

Public school scoresrank in state, math + reading #180 of 226 in MO #200 of 226 in MO

School district HOUSTON R-IINDEPENDENCE 30

High school in town Houston HighNone in town

Students per teacherat that high school 11.6 —

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.

Piney Township neighborsTown Square →

Your question goes to Piney Township’s Town Square.

Sugar Creek neighborsTown Square →

Your question goes to Sugar Creek’s Town Square.

Add a town

Set another town beside Piney Township and Sugar Creek

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

Bordering Piney Township

+ Compare

Cass Township668 people · $158K homes

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Lynch Township1,266 people · $151K homes

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Jackson Township1,777 people · $124K homes

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Morris Township647 people · $178K homes

Towns like Piney Township

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Chaffee3,026 people · $117K homes

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Eldon4,556 people · $157K homes

+ Compare

California4,509 people · $153K homes

+ Compare

Duck Creek Township2,813 people · $152K homes

Not sure which town to add? Find your place ranks Missouri towns on what matters to you.Find your place →

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.

Piney Township vs Sugar Creek

Two towns, two different strengths

Where they part ways

A typical home costs $380 more a month in Sugar Creek

Grades and rankings, side by side

What daily life feels like in each

182 miles apart

What matters to you?

Ask the people who live there

Set another town beside Piney Township and Sugar Creek

Bordering Piney Township

Towns like Piney Township

Post to Piney Township

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