City · Boone County, Missouri

Centralia, Missouri

Centralia is a city in Boone County, Missouri, part of the Columbia, MO metro area. It has 4,690 residents. Centralia, Missouri has a quality-of-life score of 66 out of 100 (high), ranking #5,263 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Missouri it ranks #78 of 375 cities and towns. It ranks best on primary care physicians (high), loneliness (low) and mental health providers (high). It ranks worst on distance to an airport (high), primary care shortage (high) and pharmacies (low).

66High

Quality-of-life score: #5,263 of 15,651 cities and towns
Missouri: #78 of 375 in MO
Population: 4,690 (2020-2024)
Land area: 3 mi²
Density: 1,610.6 /mi²
FIPS code: 2912898

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 75 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety23#12,099/15,637
Economy44#8,723/15,631
Housing92#1,197/14,977
Health62#5,885/15,609
Healthcare61#6,039/15,650
Environment90#1,560/15,453
Education53#7,428/15,649
Infrastructure50#7,822/15,650
Community56#6,831/15,651
Leisure & amenities63#5,716/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Centralia, Missouri ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Boone County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Primary care physicians · high120 /100k
92/100Missouri 72 /100kUnited States 76 /100k2022University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBoone County value
Loneliness · low30.2%
90/100Missouri 32.5%United States 33.2%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Mental health providers · high503 /100k
87/100Missouri 278 /100kUnited States 348 /100k2025University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBoone County value
Drinking water violations · low0
86/100Missouri 0United States 02024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBoone County value
Mammography screening · high53.0%
85/100Missouri 49.0%United States 46.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBoone County value
Days with unhealthy air · low0.0%
84/1002025U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyBoone County value

Weaknesses

Distance to an airport · high106 mi
9/100Missouri 40 miUnited States 33 mi2025Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauBoone County value
Primary care shortage · high17.0
9/100Missouri 10.5United States 6.2Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationBoone County value
Pharmacies · low0.9 /10k
10/100Missouri 2.1 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsBoone County value
Homicide rate · high6.9 /100k
17/100Missouri 7.7 /100kUnited States 4.8 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataBoone County value
Public libraries · low0.3 /10k
17/100Missouri 0.6 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesBoone County value
Math scores · low2.80
22/100Missouri 2.95United States 3.032019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBoone County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

PopulationRising
4,213 (2015-2019) → 4,690 (2020-2024)
+11%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
70.3% (2015-2019) → 92.6% (2020-2024)
+22 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Child poverty rateImproving
22.1% (2015-2019) → 7.6% (2020-2024)
−15 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
26.9% (2015-2019) → 38.5% (2020-2024)
+12 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
25.1% (2015-2019) → 33.5% (2020-2024)
+8.5 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
Poverty rateImproving
17.9% (2015-2019) → 11.9% (2020-2024)
−6 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Centralia, Missouri improved on 1 of 12 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 11 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved1

Broadband+22 points70.3% → 92.6%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 12 measures

Change of every measure of Centralia, Missouri between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	28.0 min2015-2019	21.1 min2020-2024	−6.9 min	Within the margin of error	95%
Bachelor's degree or higher	25.1%2015-2019	33.5%2020-2024	+8.5 points	Within the margin of error	85%
Broadband subscriptions	70.3%2015-2019	92.6%2020-2024	+22 points	Improved	93%
Effective property tax rate	1.00%2015-2019	0.83%2020-2024	−0.2 points	Within the margin of error	51%
High school diploma or higher	89.0%2015-2019	92.1%2020-2024	+3.1 points	Within the margin of error	69%
Home price to income ratio	2.2×2015-2019	2.6×2020-2024	+0.5×	Within the margin of error	51%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4102015-2019	0.3902020-2024	−0.020	Within the margin of error	68%
Median household income	$51,5122015-2019	$66,4382020-2024	+29%	Within the margin of error	53%
Poverty rate	17.9%2015-2019	11.9%2020-2024	−6 points	Within the margin of error	84%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	25.6%2015-2019	26.3%2020-2024	+0.7 points	Within the margin of error	49%
Rent-burdened households	26.9%2015-2019	38.5%2020-2024	+12 points	Within the margin of error	20%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Centralia, Missouri five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Centralia, Missouri in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Centralia, Missouri itself moved +9.4 points in standing on average over the same 10 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

4,690 residents (±20)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

1,987 households (±210)

Centralia, Missouri
Missouri share

Under $25k18%†360
$25k–50k22%†432
$50k–75k

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

1,987 households (±210)

Centralia, Missouri
Missouri share

Own72%1,427
Rent28%†560

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

2,045 workers (±322)

Centralia, Missouri
Missouri share

Drive alone69%1,407
Carpool20%†415
Public transit0.0%0

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the Columbia, MO

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Boone County, the county holding most of Centralia's residents.

Boone County has 4,725 employer establishments, 249 for every 10,000 residents (1.00× the US rate of 248; 1.02× Missouri's), with 85,754 paid employees at an average annual pay of $52,766. The Census Bureau also counts 14,372 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 4,725; 14,372 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 249; US 248 · Missouri 244
Paid employees: 85,754
Average annual pay: $52,766; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Boone County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Ambulatory health care services	477	25.2	1.21×About typical	4,678	$73,295	695
Restaurants and other eating places	344	18.2	0.99×About typical	8,494	$19,541	49
Specialty trade contractors	336	17.7	1.15×About typical	2,209	$63,729	722
Lessors of real estate	238	12.6	1.02×About typical	972	$55,229	2,065
Construction of buildings	186	9.8	1.30×More than typical	945	$48,170	397
Limited-service restaurants	160	8.4	1.05×About typical	3,978	$18,285	22
Services to buildings and dwellings	159	8.4	1.24×About typical	1,246	$32,661	744
Offices of physicians	155	8.2	1.26×More than typical	1,403	$107,516	200
Full-service restaurants	134	7.1	0.92×About typical	3,703	$21,485	12
Offices of other health practitioners	132	7	1.15×About typical	790	$53,611	349
Building finishing contractors	118	6.2	1.64×More than typical	471	$48,206	263
Religious organizations	114	6	1.08×About typical	1,327	$26,815	—

Rank places for an industry Open Boone County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 189,530 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $2,916 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Centralia, Missouri: $0.62 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $2,916; −85% vs FY2025
Per resident: $0.62; US $1,994
Sole-source: 100%; US 30%
Single offer: 0.0%; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Department of Veterans Affairs$2,916100%

Top recipients

AMERICARE AT HERITAGE HALL NURSING CENTER, LLC$2,916100%

Spending by fiscal year

12.9KFY2024
19.7KFY2025
2.9KFY2026

What was bought

Health & medical$2,916100%

Top industries (NAICS)

Nursing care facilities (skilled nursing facilities) · 6231$2,916100%

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Centralia, Missouri, so they do not add up across cities.

Centralia, Missouri's figures are part of those of Boone County, MO and Audrain County, MO ($30.7M in FY2026), never added to them: 0.0% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Centralia is mostly in Boone County.

See federal money in Boone County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Centralia, Missouri is split between congressional districts: each representative is shown with the share of its residents in their district (current boundaries).

House

Senate

Josh HawleyR-

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Boone County76100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Columbia, MO84

Other cities and towns in Boone County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/2912898

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends