Laclede County, MO

County Profile

36,390 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Laclede 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.

52out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 16% of 1,225 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity1070th of 1,255 counties measured36
Schools831st of 973 counties measured22
Growth860th of 1,226 counties measured39
Housing affordabilityTop 33% of 1,255 counties measured98
ClimateTop 36% of 1,254 counties measured72
Physical resilience719th of 1,255 counties measured55
Access1006th of 1,255 counties measured64
Economic stability870th of 1,255 counties measured49
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable published profiles: unemployment is 4.4% and the Opportunity signal places Laclede County in the bottom 15%.

In the public schools here, 31% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 14.6 students for every teacher.

56 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 14% of the prior year — steady rather than turning.

At a glance

Population
36,390
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$53,282
Bottom 20% nationally
Density
48/sq mi
764.6 sq mi of land
Median age
39.2
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Laclede County
Missouri
Metro area
Lebanon, MO
Nearest major airport
SGF
52 mi · Springfield-Branson Ntl
Median home value
$168,400
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.4% is lower than 42% of the 1,255 measured US locations.

Employment grew 0.8% over the past year, to 15,212 employed residents.

Median household income of $53,282 is below 80% of measured US locations.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Median household income ±$2,805$53,282Bottom 20%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,523$29,076Bottom 20%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate18.2%Top 23%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute22.9 minBottom 31%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher16.3%Bottom 19%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Employment15,212Bottom 13%of 1,255June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-9.6%Bottom 1%of 1,255June 2026
Employment change (year over year)0.8%Top 18%of 1,255June 2026
Labor force15,920Bottom 13%of 1,255June 2026
Labor force participation60.5%Top 41%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)-0.6%Bottom 13%of 1,255June 2026
Unemployment rate4.4%Top 42%of 1,255June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032025/102026/065.42.0
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.4% in June 2026. 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
202120222023202453k47k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $53,282 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.

31% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 36% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 14.6 students for every full-time teacher, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
12
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
14.6
across all schools here
Math proficiency
30.9%
Bottom 17% in Missouri
Reading proficiency
35.5%
Bottom 9% in Missouri
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
LEBANON SR. HIGHLEBANON R-III1,43918.7
LEBANON MIDDLE SCHOOLLEBANON R-III85913.227%35%
MAPLECREST ELEM.LEBANON R-III65613.737%37%
JOE D. ESTHER ELEM.LEBANON R-III60911.7
BOSWELL ELEM.LEBANON R-III58114.528%37%
JOEL E. BARBER ELEM.LACLEDE CO. C-550514.019%26%
EZARD ELEM.LACLEDE CO. R-I42214.152%52%
CONWAY HIGH SCHOOLSLACLEDE CO. R-I32912.225%25%
Lebanon R-III Early Chld CntrLEBANON R-III26624.2
GASCONADE ELEM.GASCONADE C-4979.7
LEBANON TECH. CAREER CTR.LEBANON R-III0
HILLCREST EDUCATION CENTERLEBANON R-III0

64.3% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with rather than how the schools perform, which is why AreaProfile shows it and does not score it.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data. Schools are placed by ZIP code, so this is which schools are in this place rather than which one a particular address is zoned for — district boundaries do not follow municipal ones, and enrollment zones change. Fully virtual schools are excluded: they enroll students from across the state while reporting one administrative address, and counting them here would describe a school population this place does not have. The assessment covers grades 3 through 8, so a high school shows no proficiency figure — a dash in those columns means the test was not given at that school, not that it performed badly. Proficiency is measured against Missouri’s own standard, so it compares cleanly within the state and only broadly against other states; AreaProfile therefore ranks it within state. The directory is current, while the proficiency figures are from the last school year with national coverage before the pandemic interrupted testing.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $809 takes 18% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 3.2 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
18.2%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.2×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$809
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$168,400
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Home price to income3.16Top 42%of 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate68.2%Bottom 23%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±3216,012Top 43%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$52$809Bottom 36%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$7,928$168,400Bottom 43%of 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income18.2%Top 36%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate9.1%Bottom 25%of 3,2222024 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 →
Development Momentum
39/ 100
Ranks 860 of 1,226 published city profiles
Permitting is decreasing — 2 consecutive years, measured from 2020 to 2025.

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 36,738 in 2024.

New construction is predominantly single-family: only 0% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.

At 1.5 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US locations.

Units permitted
56
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
1.5
Bottom 26% nationally
Year over year
+14%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
2020202120222023202437k36k
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.
Housing units permitted per year
2020202120222023202420258743
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2020 (+21%).

Weather & climate

7 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 88°F and January a low of 22°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 45.9 inches, including 8.3 inches of snow.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station LEBANON 2W, 5.7 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND5.9"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation45.9"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall8.3"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low22°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high88°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months71991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing45°F1991-2020 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

55 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are cold wave, ice storm and earthquake.

Ice stormHigh
Cold waveModerate
EarthquakeElevated
WildfireModerate
Winter weatherModerate
LightningModerate
TornadoElevated
LandslideModerate
HailModerate
Strong windModerate

Low or minimal exposure: heat wave, inland flooding, drought, hurricane.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA National Risk Index county record. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offences. AreaProfile does not publish reported crime, and this is not a substitute for it — it says nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Laclede County records 5.6 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 17.1 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 12.7 per 100,000 residents in Laclede County.

Homicide
5.6
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Firearm deaths, all intents
17.1
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Drug overdose
12.7
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Suicide
20.2
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides. The two columns overlap and should not be added.

Age-adjusted rates from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC for Laclede County as a whole — these rates are not published below county level. A county can hold both a dense city centre and a suburb whose experience of it is nothing alike, so this describes the county around Laclede County rather than Laclede County itself. That is why AreaProfile shows these figures and does not put them in the Area Score. Where fewer than ten deaths were recorded the count is suppressed at source, and a rate built on single figures moves sharply between releases. What this measure has that reported crime does not: a death certificate is filed whether or not the local police agency submitted a return that year, so the figures stay comparable between places and over time.

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 52 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Springfield-Branson NtlSGF52 mi8,000 ft
Northwest Arkansas NtlXNA134 mi8,801 ft
St Louis Lambert IntlSTL142 mi11,020 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 forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)
safetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
April, 2025 to March, 2026Quarterly, with a rolling twelve-month window alongside complete calendar years
schoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2019-20 school year; 2024-25 school yearDirectory annually; assessment results as EDFacts releases them

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.

Cities in Laclede County, MO