West Plains, MO
Metro Area Profile
40,383 residents. Jobs, income, development, climate and physical risk across the West Plains, MO metropolitan area.
Missing required signal: opportunity. AreaProfile withholds a score rather than inferring the missing dimensions.
Residential permitting has slowed: 28 units authorized over the past twelve months, 71% below the prior year.
Rent takes 17% of median household income here, below the 30% threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, and the median home is 3.4 times that income.
Physical-risk exposure is above the national median, driven mainly by earthquake, tornado and cold wave.
At a glance
Jobs & opportunity
Median household income of $50,993 is below 93% of measured US metros.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income ±$2,030 | $50,993 | Bottom 7%of 935 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Per capita income ±$1,259 | $27,570 | Bottom 8%of 935 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Poverty rate | 20.3% | Top 11%of 935 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Average commute | 23.5 min | Bottom 43%of 935 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Bachelor's degree or higher | 17.8% | Bottom 14%of 935 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Labor force participation | 55.6% | Bottom 21%of 935 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
Housing & affordability
How it’s calculated →Median rent of $733 takes 17% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.
A median home costs 3.4 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home price to income | 3.39 | Top 43%of 935 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Homeownership rate | 70.3% | Top 48%of 935 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Housing units ±62 | 18,149 | Bottom 22%of 935 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median gross rent ±$44 | $733 | Bottom 4%of 935 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median home value ±$9,304 | $173,000 | Bottom 31%of 935 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Rent as a share of income | 17.2% | Bottom 37%of 935 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Vacancy rate | 12.0% | Top 46%of 935 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.
Growth & development
How it’s calculated →An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.
Population has grown 2% since 2020, reaching 40,762 in 2024.
New construction is predominantly single-family: only 0% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.
At 0.7 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US metros.
Weather & climate
7 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 89°F and January a low of 25°F.
Normal annual precipitation is 47.3 inches.
| Metric | Value | Source period |
|---|---|---|
| Annual precipitation | 47.3" | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average January low | 25°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average July high | 89°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Comfortable months | 7 | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Seasonal temperature swing | 43°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today.
Physical risk
The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are earthquake, tornado and cold wave.
Low or minimal exposure: heat wave, inland flooding, lightning, wildfire, strong wind, hurricane, drought, hail.
Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. This value is the population-weighted mean of all component counties; expected annual loss is their sum. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.
What this profile does not cover
Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.
- Reported crime
- Offences reported to police are published by department rather than by town, and only where a department reported every month of the year. No municipal department reports for this place — many smaller communities are policed by the county — so there is no figure to show. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
- Taxes and full cost of living
- No public source publishes either with national coverage and a method open enough to check. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings. Nothing here is individualised tax advice.
- Anything about a specific address
- Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house. School attendance zones, insurance pricing and the character of a neighbourhood all vary within the places measured here.
Access
1 major airport lies within 100 miles, the nearest 89 miles away.
| Airport | Code | Distance | Longest runway |
|---|---|---|---|
| Springfield-Branson Ntl | SGF | 89 mi | 8,000 ft |
| Arkansas Intl | BYH | 122 mi | 11,602 ft |
| Northwest Arkansas Ntl | XNA | 139 mi | 8,801 ft |
Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.
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Data & methodology
| Used for | Source | Source period | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access | Federal Aviation Administration Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service | NASR current cycle | 28-day NASR cycle |
| Physical risk | Federal Emergency Management Agency National Risk Index | National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0) | Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current) |
| Climate | NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly) | 1991-2020 Normals | Every ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period) |
| Demographics, Housing, Income, Jobs | U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File) | 2024 ACS 5-Year | Annual (5-year estimates released each December) |
| Development | U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey | 12 months ending July 2026 | Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month |
| Demographics | U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program | July 1, 2024 estimate | Annual (vintage released each spring) |
Profile recalculated August 30, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology or browse every source.