Kirksville, Missouri

Area Profile

17,563 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Kirksville, in Adair County.

50out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 19% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
Opportunity3,949th of 4,199 cities measured30
Schools2,305th of 4,162 cities measured46
Growth3,482nd of 4,224 cities measured32
Housing affordabilityTop 6% of 4,218 cities measured84
Climate3,447th of 4,225 cities measured61
Physical resilienceTop 33% of 4,226 cities measured73
Access4,197th of 4,226 cities measured7
Economic stability3,818th of 4,226 cities measured30
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable cities measured: unemployment is 5.9% and the Opportunity signal places Kirksville in the bottom 6%. The unemployment rate is published for Adair County, MO, which contains Kirksville, rather than for Kirksville alone.

In the public schools here, 39% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 12.4 students for every teacher.

10 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 11% 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
17,563
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$50,071
Bottom 23% nationally
Density
1,221/sq mi
14.4 sq mi of land
Median age
24.8
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Missouri
Micro area
Nearest major airport
DSM
108 mi · Des Moines Intl
Median home value
$153,900
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across Adair County, MO, which contains Kirksville, is 5.9% — higher than in all but 9% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment across Adair County, MO, which contains Kirksville, fell 1.3% over the past year, to 9,944 employed residents.

40% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 82% of measured US cities.

Median household income of $50,071 is lower than in 77% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsAdair County, MO’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$40,7491st percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftAdair County, MO’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$46,3763rd percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$6,1502024 ACS 5-Year$50,071Bottom 23%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$4,8572024 ACS 5-Year$32,582Bottom 46%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±6%2024 ACS 5-Year15.5%Bottom 33%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.3 min2024 ACS 5-Year14.3 minTop 5%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year40.3%Top 18%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year76.7%48th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentAdair County, MO’s figureJuly 20269,944Bottom 3%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)Adair County, MO’s figureJuly 2026−2.2%Bottom 21%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)Adair County, MO’s figureJuly 2026−1.3%Bottom 37%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceAdair County, MO’s figureJuly 202610,5643rd percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year73.6%Bottom 35%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.2%2024 ACS 5-Year0.1%74th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)Adair County, MO’s figureJuly 2026−0.1%Bottom 47%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateAdair County, MO’s figureJuly 20265.9%Bottom 9%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year6.7%45th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202450k37k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $50,071 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.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes city-level labor data only for places of 25,000 or more. This is the figure for Adair County, MO, which contains this city.

39% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 50% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 12.4 students for every full-time teacher across 4 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
5
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
12.4
across 4 of them
Math proficiency
39.0%
Bottom 34% in Missouri
Reading proficiency
50.2%
Bottom 37% in Missouri
All 5 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Kirksville Sr. HighKIRKSVILLE R-III79118.037%57%
Kirksville PrimaryKIRKSVILLE R-III5398.6——
Ray Miller Elem.KIRKSVILLE R-III53012.341%44%
William Matthew Middle SchoolKIRKSVILLE R-III51412.540%46%
Kirksville Area Tech. Ctr.KIRKSVILLE R-III0———

47.7% 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 $1,306 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.85% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $888, some 15% above the $775 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $888 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $35,500 a year, about 71% of the median household income here of $50,071.

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 $775 a month.

A median home at $153,900 costs 2.1 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $73,833, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
24.9%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.1×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$888
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$775
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$153,900
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Kirksville’s median household income of $50,071, 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%82nd percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Missouri’s figure2026 Q2+53.2%86th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Missouri’s figure2026 Q2+101.2%65th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year2.1Top 36%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year48.3%8th percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±1972024 ACS 5-Year7,60992nd percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$708Top 2%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,235Top 4%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$888Top 2%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$452024 ACS 5-Year$775Top 25%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$14,8702024 ACS 5-Year$153,90039th percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1072024 ACS 5-Year$1,30635th percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$3,5102024 ACS 5-Year$73,833Bottom 43%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.11%2024 ACS 5-Year0.85%42nd percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year24.9%Top 33%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±852024 ACS 5-Year10289th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year1.3%65th percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year16.5%82nd percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±2762024 ACS 5-Year1,35896th percentileof 32,3302024 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

32/ 100
Ranks 3,482 of 4,224 published city profiles
The most recent move in permitting was downward, in 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 17,841 in 2024.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 10 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Adair County, which contains Kirksville, lost about 0.3% 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 $40,749, below the $46,376 of households that moved out.

At 0.6 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
10
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
0.6
Bottom 17% nationally
Year over year
+11%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202418k17k
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 2 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
−0.3%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
50%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$40,749
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$46,376
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Sullivan County, MO 70 people · 6.1% of arrivals
  2. Macon County, MO 57 people · 4.9% of arrivals
  3. Schuyler County, MO 57 people · 4.9% of arrivals
  4. Boone County, MO 46 people · 4.0% of arrivals
  5. Knox County, MO 35 people · 3.0% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Macon County, MO 88 people · 7.3% of departures
  2. Boone County, MO 71 people · 5.9% of departures
  3. Schuyler County, MO 56 people · 4.6% of departures
  4. Franklin County, OH 53 people · 4.4% of departures
  5. St. Louis County, MO 34 people · 2.8% 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. This is the figure for Adair County, MO. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

2022202320242025609.0
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2022 (−85%).

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 86°F and January a low of 17°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 39.3 inches.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station KIRKSVILLE RGNL AP, 7.2 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND5.1"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals39.3"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals17°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals86°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals50°F1991-2020 Normals

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

Physical risk

73 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, tornado and heat wave, with inland flooding alone responsible for 39% of it. Inland flooding and tornado are independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large those hazards are.

Heat waveModerate
HailModerate
Strong windModerate
DroughtModerate
LightningModerate
Cold waveElevated

Low or minimal exposure: landslide, tornado, wildfire, earthquake, inland flooding, winter weather, ice storm, hurricane, tsunami, volcanic activity, coastal flooding, avalanche.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Violent crime
329
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
1,780
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year

Below these are deaths rather than offenses, published for the county. The two measure different things and are not comparable with each other.

Kirksville's police department reported 329 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, near the middle of places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 1,780.

Adair County records 0.0 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, lower than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at about 15.9 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 8.4 per 100,000 residents in Adair County.

Homicide
0.0
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
15.9
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
8.4
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Suicide
20.2
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.

Offenses are reported to the FBI by Kirksville’s own police department and shown only where it reported every month of the year; a partial year is withheld rather than scaled up. Reported crime is what police recorded, which is not the same as what happened. 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 the county around Kirksville (Adair County) rather than Kirksville itself. Neither is part of the Area Score. How to read crime rates and 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.

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

No airport meeting the AreaProfile major-airport definition lies within 100 miles; the nearest is 108 miles away.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year81.3%Bottom 21%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle108 miBottom 1%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle0Bottom 1%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year12.9%Bottom 27%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Des Moines IntlDSM108 mi9,004 ft
The Eastern IowaCID125 mi8,600 ft
Rosecrans MemlSTJ127 mi8,061 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.

Customize your score

What matters to you?

Choose what you weight most heavily. Nothing is saved to an account — your preferences stay in this browser, and the Area Score never changes.

Area Score
50
Your Score
—

Select one or more priorities to see how this location scores against them.

Compare

Put Kirksville side by side with a similar place.

Kirksville vs GallupKirksville vs Pendleton

Moving to Kirksville from somewhere else?

You get the difference in prices, rent and weather, and the income that would keep pace.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
SafetyFederal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer
Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency
2025 calendar year
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
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
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.

ZIP codes in Kirksville

1 ZIP area

Every ZIP area in Kirksville with census figures of its own, largest first.

ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeMedian home valueArea Score
6350121,218$60,729$168,20050