City · Christian County, Missouri

Clever, Missouri

Clever is a city in Christian County, Missouri, part of the Springfield, MO metro area. It has 3,030 residents. Clever, Missouri has a quality-of-life score of 68 out of 100 (high), ranking #4,933 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Missouri it ranks #72 of 375 cities and towns. It ranks best on income inequality (Gini index) (low), rent as share of income (low) and reading scores (high). It ranks worst on average weekly wage (low), distance to an Amtrak station (high) and grocery stores (low).

68High

Quality-of-life score: #4,933 of 15,651 cities and towns
Missouri: #72 of 375 in MO
Population: 3,030 (2020-2024)
Land area: 2 mi²
Density: 1,860.9 /mi²
FIPS code: 2914788

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 72 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.

Safety78#3,411/15,637
Economy79#3,289/15,631
Housing97#399/14,977
Health54#7,198/15,609
Healthcare18#12,862/15,650
Environment48#8,098/15,453
Education84#2,517/15,649
Infrastructure53#7,402/15,650
Community62#5,971/15,651
Leisure & amenities24#11,865/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Clever, Missouri ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Christian 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

Income inequality (Gini index) · low0.308
98/100Missouri 0.465United States 0.4832020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B19083
Rent as share of income · low22.8%
91/100Missouri 28.1%United States 30.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25071
Reading scores · high3.31
88/100Missouri 2.98United States 3.052019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteChristian County value
Rent-burdened households · low34.4%
88/100Missouri 45.6%United States 51.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25070
Child poverty rate · low4.4%
87/100Missouri 15.3%United States 15.5%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B17001High uncertainty
Job growth · high1.7%
86/100Missouri 0.1%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataChristian County value

Weaknesses

Average weekly wage · low$888
5/100Missouri $1,278United States $1,5142025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsChristian County value
Distance to an Amtrak station · high117 mi
8/100Missouri 33 miUnited States 43 mi2026Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauChristian County value
Grocery stores · low0.9 /10k
11/100Missouri 1.5 /10kUnited States 1.7 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsChristian County value
Pharmacies · low0.9 /10k
12/100Missouri 2.1 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsChristian County value
Dentists · low33 /100k
14/100Missouri 64 /100kUnited States 75 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteChristian County value
Restaurants and bars · low5.6 /10k
15/100Missouri 8.6 /10kUnited States 9.0 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsChristian County value

Trends

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

PopulationRising
2,667 (2015-2019) → 3,030 (2020-2024)
+14%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
47.9% (2015-2019) → 34.4% (2020-2024)
−14 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Median household incomeImproving
$49,766 (2015-2019) → $78,366 (2020-2024)
+57%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
17.0% (2015-2019) → 25.2% (2020-2024)
+8.2 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
Rent as share of incomeImproving
29.1% (2015-2019) → 22.8% (2020-2024)
−6.3 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
Child poverty rateImproving
9.5% (2015-2019) → 4.4% (2020-2024)
−5.1 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%

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, Clever, Missouri improved on 2 of 12 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 9 moved within the margin of error and 1 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.

Improved2

Household income+57%$49,766 → $78,366
Bachelor's++8.2 points17.0% → 25.2%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 12 measures

Change of every measure of Clever, Missouri between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	29.0 min2015-2019	29.4 min2020-2024	+0.5 min	Within the margin of error	42%
Bachelor's degree or higher	17.0%2015-2019	25.2%2020-2024	+8.2 points	Improved	84%
Broadband subscriptions	87.2%2015-2019	91.9%2020-2024	+4.7 points	Within the margin of error	30%
Effective property tax rate	1.00%2015-2019	0.68%2020-2024	−0.3 points	Little change	77%
High school diploma or higher	88.2%2015-2019	93.3%2020-2024	+5.1 points	Within the margin of error	82%
Home price to income ratio	2.2×2015-2019	2.6×2020-2024	+0.3×	Within the margin of error	59%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.3492015-2019	0.3082020-2024	−0.041	Within the margin of error	80%
Median household income	$49,7662015-2019	$78,3662020-2024	+57%	Improved	89%
Poverty rate	9.9%2015-2019	5.9%2020-2024	−4 points	Within the margin of error	75%
Rent as share of income	29.1%2015-2019	22.8%2020-2024	−6.3 points	Within the margin of error	86%
Rent-burdened households	47.9%2015-2019	34.4%2020-2024	−14 points	Within the margin of error	87%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	10.2%2015-2019	10.8%2020-2024	+0.7 points	Within the margin of error	38%

“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 Clever, Missouri five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Clever, 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, Clever, Missouri itself moved +13.8 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

3,030 residents (±27)

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

1,105 households (±99)

Clever, Missouri
Missouri share

Under $25k11%†123
$25k–50k18%†195
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

1,105 households (±99)

Clever, Missouri
Missouri share

Own68%748
Rent32%†357

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

1,610 workers (±144)

Clever, Missouri
Missouri share

Drive alone84%1,360
Carpool11%†180
Public transit0.9%†14

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 Springfield, 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 Christian County, the county holding most of Clever's residents.

Christian County has 2,098 employer establishments, 222 for every 10,000 residents (0.89× the US rate of 248; 0.91× Missouri's), with 16,831 paid employees at an average annual pay of $41,613. The Census Bureau also counts 9,146 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 2,098; 9,146 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 222; US 248 · Missouri 244
Paid employees: 16,831
Average annual pay: $41,613; US $68,342

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

Specialty trade contractors	224	23.7	1.53×More than typical	1,483	$50,288	854
Restaurants and other eating places	117	12.4	0.67×Fewer than typical	2,467	$22,321	23
Ambulatory health care services	112	11.9	0.57×Fewer than typical	861	$73,035	328
Construction of buildings	106	11.2	1.48×More than typical	334	$67,078	427
Services to buildings and dwellings	103	10.9	1.62×More than typical	429	$39,065	562
Lessors of real estate	93	9.8	0.80×Fewer than typical	147	$39,748	908
Truck transportation	90	9.5	1.88×More than typical	219	$49,571	359
Building equipment contractors	83	8.8	1.46×More than typical	733	$49,745	165
Religious organizations	71	7.5	1.35×More than typical	367	$28,940	—
Insurance agencies and brokerages	68	7.2	1.64×More than typical	186	$55,419	240
Building finishing contractors	66	7	1.84×More than typical	315	$44,022	272
Automotive repair and maintenance	65	6.9	1.37×More than typical	332	$47,810	145

Rank places for an industry Open Christian County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 94,498 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

No federal contract obligations recorded here in FY2026.

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

See federal money in Christian 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.

Clever, Missouri is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

Eric BurlisonR-MO-7 · 100% of residentsWith party 97%Missed 4.6%

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

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

Christian County76100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Springfield, MO49

Other cities and towns in Christian 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/2914788

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends