Callaway County, MO

County Profile

44,741 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Callaway County, MO.

Several figures AreaProfile publishes are measured by county and nowhere finer — death rates by intent among them. On this page those describe the geography they are printed on, which is not true of the city and ZIP pages that inherit them.

64out of 100
Area Score
Top 34% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
OpportunityTop 15% of 1,463 counties measured74
Schools778th of 1,377 counties measured45
Growth831st of 1,453 counties measured46
Housing affordabilityTop 8% of 1,462 counties measured85
ClimateTop 37% of 1,463 counties measured72
Physical resilienceTop 45% of 1,463 counties measured63
Access1,370th of 1,463 counties measured43
Economic stability939th of 1,463 counties measured50
The quick read

Callaway County ranks in the top 15% of counties measured for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 3.5% and median household income of $74,176.

In the public schools here, 40% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 12.5 students for every teacher.

38 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 7% of the prior year — steady rather than turning.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
44,741
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$74,176
Top 28% nationally
Density
54/sq mi
834.6 sq mi of land
Median age
39.4
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Callaway County
Missouri
Nearest major airport
STL
84 mi · St Louis Lambert Intl
Median home value
$201,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.5%, lower than in 74% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment grew 1.1% over the past year, to 21,726 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$50,14822nd percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$45,42510th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$2,9352024 ACS 5-Year$74,176Top 28%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,7272024 ACS 5-Year$33,886Bottom 45%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$50,433Bottom 25%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year11.8%Top 42%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.1 min2024 ACS 5-Year25.2 minTop 46%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year24.6%Top 40%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year75.8%38th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202621,726Bottom 35%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+3.3%Top 17%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+1.1%Top 19%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202622,51534th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year73.5%Bottom 40%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.6%2024 ACS 5-Year0.7%80th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.3%Top 42%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20263.5%Top 26%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year10.0%63rd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/074.11.9
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 3.5% in July 2026. It has been rising for the last 3 months, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202474k64k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $74,176 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

Largest occupations — Jefferson City, MO

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
General and Operations Managers2,280$76,170
Registered Nurses1,910$85,010
Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive1,880$40,980
Cashiers1,650$29,420
Office Clerks, General1,600$39,640
Retail Salespersons1,540$30,400

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

40% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 47% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 12.5 students for every full-time teacher across 19 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
24
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
12.5
across 19 of them
Math proficiency
40.5%
Bottom 44% in Missouri
Reading proficiency
46.7%
Bottom 24% in Missouri
The 12 largest of 24 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Fulton Sr. HighFULTON 5865916.132%47%
Fulton MiddleFULTON 5851313.527%42%
New Bloomfield Elem.NEW BLOOMFIELD R-III40313.437%42%
North Elem.JEFFERSON CITY36713.140%51%
North Callaway HighNORTH CALLAWAY CO. R-I34712.932%37%
McIntire Elem.FULTON 5832113.437%42%
Bush Elem.FULTON 5831212.547%42%
New Bloomfield HighNEW BLOOMFIELD R-III30912.947%47%
Fulton Early Childhood CntrFULTON 5825211.5——
Hatton-Mccredie Elem.NORTH CALLAWAY CO. R-I23812.533%39%
South Callaway HighSOUTH CALLAWAY CO. R-II23710.875%75%
Callaway Hills Elem.JEFFERSON CITY22410.732%47%

45.4% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Missouri’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 13% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 87.4, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Jefferson City, MO Metro Area is up 54% over five years, and up 3.2% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $1,548 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.77% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,042, some 17% above the $887 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,042 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $41,700 a year, about 56% of the median household income here of $74,176.

The typical renter household here spends 25% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $887 a month.

A median home at $201,600 costs 2.4 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $84,041, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Cost of living
87.4

Prices here run about 13% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Jefferson City, MO Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
24.5%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.4×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,042
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$887
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$201,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Callaway County’s median household income of $74,176, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living indexthe Jefferson City, MO Metro Area’s figure202387.4Top 5%of 8872023
Home price change (1 year)the Jefferson City, MO Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+3.2%40th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Jefferson City, MO Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+54.3%86th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Jefferson City, MO Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+94.8%50th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year2.4Top 44%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year75.5%55th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±642024 ACS 5-Year18,64562nd percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$794Top 24%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,249Top 17%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,042Top 33%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$442024 ACS 5-Year$887Bottom 47%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$12,1972024 ACS 5-Year$201,60057th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$752024 ACS 5-Year$1,54848th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$4,3722024 ACS 5-Year$84,041Top 35%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.06%2024 ACS 5-Year0.77%47th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year24.5%Top 23%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±1462024 ACS 5-Year45556th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year2.4%47th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year9.1%51st percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±4592024 ACS 5-Year2,16057th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

46/ 100
Ranks 831 of 1,453 published county profiles
Permitting has been rising for the last 2 years of a series running from 2022 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

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 45,126 in 2024.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 38 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Callaway County gained about 1.0% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $50,148, above the $45,425 of households that moved out.

At 0.8 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
38
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
0.8
Bottom 15% nationally
Year over year
−7%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202445k44k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population. It has been rising for the last 4 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
+1.0%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
25%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$50,148
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$45,425
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Cole County, MO 527 people · 23% of arrivals
  2. Boone County, MO 464 people · 20% of arrivals
  3. Audrain County, MO 117 people · 5.0% of arrivals
  4. St. Louis County, MO 39 people · 1.7% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Cole County, MO 471 people · 24% of departures
  2. Boone County, MO 359 people · 18% of departures
  3. Audrain County, MO 149 people · 7.6% of departures
  4. St. Louis County, MO 40 people · 2.0% of departures
  5. St. Charles County, MO 36 people · 1.8% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

20222023202420254626
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2022 (+70%).

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 23°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 41.4 inches, including 16.5 inches of snow.

Air quality measures a median index of 40, in the Good band, and no day in the year passed 100.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station COLUMBIA RGNL AP, 15.9 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.9"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year492024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals41.4"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals16.5"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals23°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals89°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals71991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year02024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year402024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals48°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
40
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
49
90th percentile index
Days above 100
0
unhealthy for sensitive groups

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

63 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, heat wave and cold wave, with inland flooding alone responsible for 52% of it. Heat wave is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

EarthquakeElevated
Winter weatherModerate
HailModerate
Ice stormModerate
Cold waveModerate
Inland floodingModerate

Low or minimal exposure: heat wave, landslide, lightning, wildfire, strong wind, tornado, drought, hurricane, coastal flooding, tsunami, volcanic activity, avalanche.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). These are FEMA’s own figures for this county rather than a value derived from surrounding geographies. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Callaway County has a modeled homicide rate of about 3.6 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at about 18.3 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at about 8.6 per 100,000 residents in Callaway County.

Homicide
3.6
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
18.3
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
8.6
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Suicide
26.8
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe Callaway County as a whole. They are shown and not scored. How to read death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. City profiles inside this area carry their own figure where their department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

1 major airport lies within 100 miles, the nearest St Louis Lambert Intl at 84 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year90.2%Top 24%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle84 miBottom 7%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle1Bottom 3%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year8.1%Top 32%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
St Louis Lambert IntlSTL84 mi11,020 ft
St Louis RgnlALN101 mi8,099 ft
Scott AFB/Midamerica St LouisBLV114 mi10,000 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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Area Score
64
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
Housing, IncomeU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar year
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 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 every source with how often each updates.

Cities in Callaway County, MO

ZIP areas

Only ZIP areas whose income or home value differ from their city’s by at least ten percent get a profile of their own, so this is a selection rather than every ZIP code in the county.