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.

50out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 18% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
Opportunity1,272nd of 1,463 counties measured34
Schools1,097th of 1,377 counties measured26
Growth997th of 1,453 counties measured40
Housing affordabilityTop 20% of 1,462 counties measured80
ClimateTop 37% of 1,463 counties measured72
Physical resilience812th of 1,463 counties measured55
Access1,169th of 1,463 counties measured64
Economic stability1,040th of 1,463 counties measured43
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable counties measured: unemployment is 4.8% and the Opportunity signal places Laclede County in the bottom 13%.

In the public schools here, 38% 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.

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
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
Micro area
Nearest major airport
SGF
52 mi · Springfield-Branson Ntl
Median home value
$168,400
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.8% — higher than in all but 26% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment grew 2.8% over the past year, to 14,924 employed residents.

Median household income of $53,282 is lower than in 80% of measured US counties.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$45,67310th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$52,04430th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$2,8052024 ACS 5-Year$53,282Bottom 20%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,5232024 ACS 5-Year$29,076Bottom 20%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$47,941Bottom 16%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year17.5%Bottom 23%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.3 min2024 ACS 5-Year22.9 minTop 31%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year16.3%Bottom 19%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year78.0%53rd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202614,924Bottom 21%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026−8.0%Bottom 2%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+2.8%Top 6%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202615,67721st percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year75.3%Bottom 48%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.2%2024 ACS 5-Year0.2%50th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.6%Top 22%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20264.8%Bottom 26%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year3.9%9th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/075.82.1
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.8% in July 2026. It has been rising, 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

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.

38% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 44% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 14.6 students for every full-time teacher across 10 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
12
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
14.6
across 10 of them
Math proficiency
38.0%
Bottom 22% in Missouri
Reading proficiency
44.1%
Bottom 16% in Missouri
The 12 largest public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Lebanon Sr. HighLEBANON R-III1,43918.737%51%
Lebanon Middle SchoolLEBANON R-III85913.241%35%
Maplecrest Elem.LEBANON R-III65613.739%51%
Joe D. Esther Elem.LEBANON R-III60911.7——
Boswell Elem.LEBANON R-III58114.539%46%
Joel E. Barber Elem.LACLEDE CO. C-550514.031%34%
Ezard Elem.LACLEDE CO. R-I42214.149%45%
Conway High SchoolsLACLEDE CO. R-I32912.231%32%
Lebanon R-III Early Chld CntrLEBANON R-III26624.2——
Gasconade Elem.GASCONADE C-4979.725%55%
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, 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.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the non-metropolitan parts of Missouri is up 53% over five years, and up 5.4% 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 $1,011 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.60% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $903, some 12% above the $809 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $903 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $36,100 a year, about 68% of the median household income here of $53,282.

The typical renter household here spends 27% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $809 a month.

A median home at $168,400 costs 2.6 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $64,537, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
26.6%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.6×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$903
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$809
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$168,400
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Laclede County’s median household income of $53,282, 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
Home price change (1 year)the non-metropolitan parts of Missouri’s figure2026 Q2+5.4%79th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Missouri’s figure2026 Q2+53.2%81st percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Missouri’s figure2026 Q2+101.2%61st percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year2.6Bottom 44%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year68.2%23rd percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±322024 ACS 5-Year16,01257th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$688Top 5%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,182Top 10%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$903Top 7%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$522024 ACS 5-Year$809Top 36%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$7,9282024 ACS 5-Year$168,40043rd percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$732024 ACS 5-Year$1,01124th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$5,2442024 ACS 5-Year$64,537Bottom 23%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.05%2024 ACS 5-Year0.60%28th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year26.6%Top 38%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±1602024 ACS 5-Year34949th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year2.2%45th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year6.9%32nd percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±3382024 ACS 5-Year1,45443rd 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.

Development Momentum

40/ 100
Ranks 997 of 1,453 published county profiles
Permitting has been falling for the last 2 years of a series running from 2020 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 36,738 in 2024.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 56 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Laclede County gained about 0.4% 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 $45,673, below the $52,044 of households that moved out.

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

Units permitted
56
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
1.5
Bottom 28% 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. It has been holding roughly steady, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
+0.4%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
37%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$45,673
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$52,044
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Greene County, MO 154 people · 9.1% of arrivals
  2. Camden County, MO 144 people · 8.5% of arrivals
  3. Pulaski County, MO 133 people · 7.9% of arrivals
  4. Webster County, MO 95 people · 5.6% of arrivals
  5. Dallas County, MO 70 people · 4.1% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Greene County, MO 214 people · 13% of departures
  2. Camden County, MO 154 people · 9.7% of departures
  3. Pulaski County, MO 141 people · 8.9% of departures
  4. Webster County, MO 111 people · 7.0% of departures
  5. Dallas County, MO 77 people · 4.9% 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

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 precipitation1991-2020 Normals45.9"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals8.3"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals22°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals88°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals71991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals45°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

55 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, cold wave and ice storm, with inland flooding alone responsible for 37% of it. Inland flooding is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

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

Low or minimal exposure: heat wave, inland flooding, drought, hurricane, tsunami, volcanic activity, avalanche, coastal flooding.

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.

Laclede County has a modeled homicide rate of about 5.7 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 17.8 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 16.1 per 100,000 residents in Laclede County.

Homicide
5.7
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
17.8
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
16.1
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Suicide
20.5
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured

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 Laclede 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.
Cost of living
Price parities are published for metropolitan areas, and this place lies outside one.
Air quality
The EPA publishes an air-quality index only where a monitor sits. There is none in this county, and a modeled value would be a different kind of number from the measured ones everywhere else on this page.
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. Cost of living is published where the Bureau of Economic Analysis measures it, though not for this place. 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 Springfield-Branson Ntl at 52 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year77.2%Bottom 8%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle52 miBottom 28%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle1Bottom 3%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year12.6%Bottom 32%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
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 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
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
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 Laclede 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.