Scores by category

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

Safety49#7,949/15,637
Economy30#10,972/15,631
Housing94#826/14,977
Health11#13,909/15,609
Healthcare4#15,075/15,650
Environment11#13,824/15,453
Education68#5,036/15,649
Infrastructure17#12,945/15,650
Community51#7,725/15,651
Leisure & amenities33#10,506/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Rent-burdened households · low25.1%
99/100Missouri 45.6%United States 51.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25070
Rent as share of income · low23.3%
95/100Missouri 28.1%United States 30.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25071
Homicide rate · low0.0 /100k
94/100Missouri 7.7 /100kUnited States 4.8 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataStoddard County value
Social associations · high15.5 /10k
92/100Missouri 11.5 /10kUnited States 9.1 /10k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteStoddard County value
Public libraries · high1.8 /10k
89/100Missouri 0.6 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesStoddard County value
Unemployment rate · low1.5%
88/100Missouri 4.0%United States 4.3%2020-2024U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Census table B23025High uncertainty

Weaknesses

Adult smoking · high22.9%
4/100Missouri 19.5%United States 16.1%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
Primary care shortage · high18.0
5/100Missouri 10.5United States 6.2Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationStoddard County value
Distance to an airport · high122 mi
5/100Missouri 40 miUnited States 33 mi2025Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauStoddard County value
Dental care shortage · high18.0
6/100Missouri 9.4United States 5.7Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationStoddard County value
Dentists · low25 /100k
7/100Missouri 64 /100kUnited States 75 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteStoddard County value
Average weekly wage · low$919
7/100Missouri $1,278United States $1,5142025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsStoddard County value

Trends

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

Rent-burdened householdsImproving
51.0% (2015-2019) → 25.1% (2020-2024)
−26 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Child poverty rateImproving
36.3% (2015-2019) → 20.5% (2020-2024)
−16 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
73.7% (2015-2019) → 85.1% (2020-2024)
+11 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
New homes permittedWorsening
0.8 /1k (2021) → 0.4 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−50%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Average commute timeWorsening
14.3 min (2015-2019) → 21.3 min (2020-2024)
+49%5 yearsCensus table B08013US 26.9 min → 26.4 min
Median household incomeImproving
$35,551 (2015-2019) → $51,701 (2020-2024)
+45%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604

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, Dexter, Missouri improved on 5 of 13 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 7 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.

Improved5

Rent burden−26 points51.0% → 25.1%
Child poverty−16 points36.3% → 20.5%
Rent / income−7.2 points30.5% → 23.3%
Household income+45%$35,551 → $51,701
Broadband+11 points73.7% → 85.1%

Declined1

Commute+7.0 min14.3 min → 21.3 min

All 13 measures

Change of every measure of Dexter, Missouri between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	14.3 min2015-2019	21.3 min2020-2024	+7.0 min	Declined	5%
Bachelor's degree or higher	12.0%2015-2019	17.7%2020-2024	+5.7 points	Within the margin of error	72%
Broadband subscriptions	73.7%2015-2019	85.1%2020-2024	+11 points	Improved	66%
Child poverty rate	36.3%2015-2019	20.5%2020-2024	−16 points	Improved	90%
Effective property tax rate	0.68%2015-2019	0.83%2020-2024	+0.2 points	Within the margin of error	4%
High school diploma or higher	77.3%2015-2019	86.2%2020-2024	+8.9 points	Within the margin of error	94%
Home price to income ratio	2.5×2015-2019	2.7×2020-2024	+0.2×	Within the margin of error	69%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4102015-2019	0.4012020-2024	−0.009	Within the margin of error	58%
Median household income	$35,5512015-2019	$51,7012020-2024	+45%	Improved	80%
Poverty rate	25.2%2015-2019	17.0%2020-2024	−8.2 points	Within the margin of error	89%
Rent as share of income	30.5%2015-2019	23.3%2020-2024	−7.2 points	Improved	88%
Rent-burdened households	51.0%2015-2019	25.1%2020-2024	−26 points	Improved	96%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	9.9%2015-2019	11.6%2020-2024	+1.7 points	Within the margin of error	28%

“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 Dexter, Missouri five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Dexter, 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, Dexter, Missouri itself moved +9.9 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

7,891 residents (±23)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†
50–59†
40–49†
30–39†
20–29†
10–19†
Under 10†

Share of all residents, each sex

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: 20–29 men (+3.4 points).

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

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B01001View table on data.census.gov

Race and Hispanic origin

7,891 residents (±23)

Dexter, Missouri
Missouri share

White92%7,235
Black0.4%†32
Hispanic or Latino4.3%†338
Asian0.3%†26
American Indian and Alaska Native0.2%†17
Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander0.2%†17
Other or two or more races2.9%†226

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

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B03002View table on data.census.gov

Education

5,224 residents (±281)

Dexter, Missouri
Missouri share

No high school diploma14%721
High school or GED45%2,349
Some college15%767
Associate degree8.9%†464
Bachelor's degree11%†561
Graduate degree6.9%†362

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: No high school diploma (−8.9 points).

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

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B15003View table on data.census.gov

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Income

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

Household income

3,249 households (±203)

Dexter, Missouri
Missouri share

Under $25k22%701
$25k–50k25%†799
$50k–75k23%†762
$75k–100k8.9%†289
$100k–150k16%†514
$150k–200k4.4%†142
$200k or more1.3%†42

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Under $25k (−16.0 points).

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

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B19001View table on data.census.gov

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Homes

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

Owners and renters

3,249 households (±203)

Dexter, Missouri
Missouri share

Own60%1,949
Rent40%1,300

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

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B25003View table on data.census.gov

Rent paid

1,230 households (±206)

Dexter, Missouri
Missouri share

Under $75047%†582
$750–1,00041%†502
$1,000–1,5009.4%†116

Home values

1,949 homes (±236)

Dexter, Missouri
Missouri share

Under $150k59%1,149
$150k–250k29%†556
$250k–400k12%†226

Age of homes

3,853 homes (±202)

Dexter, Missouri
Missouri share

2010 or later4.3%†166
2000–20097.4%†284
1980–199922%836

Size of homes

3,853 homes (±202)

Dexter, Missouri
Missouri share

Studio2.8%†109
1 bedroom7.8%†301
2 bedrooms31%1,176

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

3,218 workers (±256)

Dexter, Missouri
Missouri share

Drive alone89%2,860
Carpool5.3%†171
Public transit0.2%†8
Walk0.6%†19
Bike0.0%0
Work from home3.8%†123
Other1.2%†37

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

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B08301View table on data.census.gov

Time to get to work

3,095 workers (±270)

Dexter, Missouri
Missouri share

Under 15 min36%1,121
15–29 min28%875
30–44 min27%838

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

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 Stoddard County, the county holding most of Dexter's residents.

Stoddard County has 644 employer establishments, 227 for every 10,000 residents (0.92× the US rate of 248; 0.93× Missouri's), with 8,455 paid employees at an average annual pay of $46,044. The Census Bureau also counts 2,335 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 644; 2,335 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 227; US 248 · Missouri 244
Paid employees: 8,455
Average annual pay: $46,044; US $68,342

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

Specialty trade contractors	46	16.2	1.05×About typical	289	$57,291	193
Restaurants and other eating places	44	15.5	0.85×About typical	689	$18,425	4
Ambulatory health care services	43	15.2	0.73×Fewer than typical	480	$46,077	45
Religious organizations	40	14.1	2.54×More than typical	156	$19,372	—
Truck transportation	25	8.8	1.74×More than typical	154	$53,870	103
Full-service restaurants	23	8.1	1.06×About typical	282	$24,018	—
Banks and credit unions	20	7.1	2.18×More than typical	224	$56,929	—
Insurance agencies and brokerages	20	7.1	1.61×More than typical	36	$44,222	34
Other specialty trade contractors	18	6.4	2.53×More than typical	120	$61,600	64
Services to buildings and dwellings	17	6	0.89×About typical	76	$31,842	183
Lessors of real estate	16	5.6	0.46×Fewer than typical	149	$84,933	380
Limited-service restaurants	15	5.3	0.66×Fewer than typical	384	$14,492	—

Rank places for an industry Open Stoddard County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 28,344 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 $309.2K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Dexter, Missouri: $39.18 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $309.2K; −58% vs FY2025
Per resident: $39.18; US $1,994
Sole-source: 2.2%; 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 the Army$302.3K98%
Department of the Navy$6,8272.2%

Top recipients

RANDY KINDER EXCAVATING INC$302.3K98%
LANDSTAR INWAY, INC.$6,8272.2%

Spending by fiscal year

1.3KFY2017
2.2KFY2018
4.4KFY2019
192.4KFY2020
4.7KFY2021
251KFY2022
74.4KFY2023
1KFY2024

Top industries (NAICS)

Utility system construction · 2371$302.3K98%
Motor vehicle body and trailer manufacturing · 3362$6,8272.2%

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 Dexter, Missouri, so they do not add up across cities.

Dexter, Missouri's figures are part of those of Stoddard County, MO ($7.4M in FY2026), never added to them: 4.2% of that total.

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

See federal money in Stoddard 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.

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

House

Jason SmithR-MO-8 · 100% of residentsWith party 99%Missed 1.3%

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.

Stoddard County27100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Stoddard 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/2919396

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends