Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Vandalia gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $141K, 2.4 years of the Mexico area’s $59K median household income. It grades C− overall, 172nd among Missouri's 247 graded towns. The low prices come with trade-offs. Residents are less healthy than 82% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates and its schools rank behind 82% of the state's. Vandalia's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) is stronger than in 88% of U.S. towns. Only 4 of the 247 Missouri towns we compare have a lower share of adults with a bachelor’s degree than Vandalia. Lincoln School is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Where Vandalia beats most towns.
Lincoln SchoolWhere Vandalia’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Missouri), ordered by how far Vandalia is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 501 in 1880, 3,553 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 2007 and 2 maps from 1943 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Vandalia, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Vandalia.
Vandalia trades lower home prices for longer drives to work, but it is a long drive from an emergency room and has little public open land.
Homes are within reach (about $141K for the typical one, A for cost of living), but half of working residents commute more than 33 miles. At 2.4 years of the Mexico area’s $59K median household income, the typical home (about $141K) costs less against local pay than in 83% of Missouri towns; that ratio is one input to its A for cost of living.
Typical home values rose 17% in the year to September 2026. Vandalia’s median rent is $814 a month, against $972 a month in Missouri’s towns and $1,185 a month across U.S. towns.
| Vandalia | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $814 a month | $972 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 65% | 64% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Women E. Recep/Diag Cor C/AcadLargest public high schoolGrades 7–12 | Grades 7–12 | – | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MO on state tests and graduation
The nearest emergency room, Pike County Memorial Hospital, is 24.5 miles away in a straight line. Against the 5,904 U.S. towns with household incomes like Vandalia’s, it is less healthy than 57%, so its C− isn’t only a matter of income.
23% of Vandalia adults report frequent mental distress, above both Missouri’s towns (19%) and U.S. towns (17%). 36% of Vandalia adults feel lonely. No town among the 247 in Missouri we compare has a higher share of adults who have been diagnosed with depression than Vandalia.
| Vandalia | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 23% | 19% | 17% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 25% | 23% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 17% | 14% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 42% | 38% | 36% |
| What stands out | Vandalia | MO |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 7% | 8.6% |
| Fewer adults with heart disease | 5.8% | 6.8% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 22.7% | 15.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Jobs based here fell from 975 in 2013 to 631.
Most working residents leave Vandalia for work: only 16% work in town. Jobs based in Vandalia fell to 631 in 2023, 344 fewer than in 2013. The median household income in Vandalia is $50,000.
| Vandalia | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $50,000 | $62,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 22 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 16% | 13% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 14% | 14% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Vandalia has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 87°, January nights drop to 20° and about 16 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 53% of U.S. communities. Since 1980, 11 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Vandalia.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Just 22 of its 1,433 acres are conserved, so there is little public open land in Vandalia itself; its outdoors grade is C−.
0.0 miles of trail in 1 park or preserve.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Tri-County Park | — | 10 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
None within 15 miles of Vandalia; the nearest are
About 3 of every 100 Vandalia residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Missouri.
City in Audrain and Ralls counties in Missouri, United States
Vandalia is a city in northeastern Audrain County and extending into southeastern Ralls County in Missouri, United States. The population was 3,553 at the 2020 census, which includes about 1,000 prisoners incarcerated at the prison located within the city limits. The Audrain County portion of Vandalia is part of the Mexico Micropolitan Statistical Area, while the Ralls County portion is part of the Hannibal Micropolitan Statistical Area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Vandalia grades C− overall, better than 25% of U.S. towns and #172 of 247 in Missouri. It grades C− for health and C− for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a C−.
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades A.