City · Miller County, Missouri

Eldon, Missouri

Eldon is a city in Miller County, Missouri. It has 4,556 residents. Eldon, Missouri has a quality-of-life score of 39 out of 100 (low), ranking #9,515 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Missouri it ranks #206 of 375 cities and towns. It ranks best on pharmacies (high), arts, entertainment and recreation (high) and new homes permitted (high). It ranks worst on public EV charging ports (low), average weekly wage (low) and median household income (low).

39Low

Quality-of-life score: #9,515 of 15,651 cities and towns
Missouri: #206 of 375 in MO
Population: 4,556 (2020-2024)
Land area: 4 mi²
Density: 1,296.1 /mi²
FIPS code: 2921484

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.

Safety39#9,580/15,637
Economy27#11,393/15,631
Housing90#1,510/14,977
Health18#12,839/15,609
Healthcare8#14,331/15,650
Environment61#6,030/15,453
Education57#6,761/15,649
Infrastructure19#12,601/15,650
Community49#8,038/15,651
Leisure & amenities83#2,664/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Pharmacies · high3.1 /10k
97/100Missouri 2.1 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsMiller County value
Arts, entertainment and recreation · high7.8 /10k
92/100Missouri 4.6 /10kUnited States 5.5 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsMiller County value
New homes permitted · high11.2 /1k
90/100Missouri 3.0 /1kUnited States 4.2 /1kSep 2025–Aug 2026U.S. Census BureauProvisional data
Property crime rate · low507 /100k
89/100Missouri 1,644 /100kUnited States 1,535 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationMiller County value
Restaurants and bars · high12.0 /10k
87/100Missouri 8.6 /10kUnited States 9.0 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsMiller County value
Rent-burdened households · low38.7%
86/100Missouri 45.6%United States 51.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25070

Weaknesses

Public EV charging ports · low0.0 /10k
3/100Missouri 5.3 /10kUnited States 7.6 /10kOct 2026U.S. Department of EnergyMiller County value
Average weekly wage · low$896
5/100Missouri $1,278United States $1,5142025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsMiller County value
Median household income · low$41,684
7/100Missouri $71,583United States $81,6042020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B19013
Mental health providers · low58 /100k
7/100Missouri 278 /100kUnited States 348 /100k2025University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMiller County value
Uninsured residents (under 65) · high21.3%
8/100Missouri 9.2%United States 9.8%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B27010
Distance to an emergency room · high14.0 mi
9/100Missouri 6.6 miUnited States 5.5 miJul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesMiller County value

Trends

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

New homes permittedImproving
2.0 /1k (2021) → 11.2 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
+447%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
66.1% (2015-2019) → 86.5% (2020-2024)
+20 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Child poverty rateImproving
29.7% (2015-2019) → 14.8% (2020-2024)
−15 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Uninsured residents (under 65)Worsening
7.0% (2015-2019) → 21.3% (2020-2024)
+14 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 9.8%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
2.2× (2015-2019) → 3.8× (2020-2024)
+71%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Poverty rateImproving
25.8% (2015-2019) → 12.8% (2020-2024)
−13 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, Eldon, Missouri improved on 2 of 13 measures with a comparison and declined on 2. 9 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.

Improved2

Poverty−13 points25.8% → 12.8%
Broadband+20 points66.1% → 86.5%

Declined2

Uninsured+14 points7.0% → 21.3%
Price / income+1.6×2.2× → 3.8×

All 13 measures

Change of every measure of Eldon, Missouri between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	24.1 min2015-2019	20.5 min2020-2024	−3.6 min	Within the margin of error	83%
Bachelor's degree or higher	15.6%2015-2019	17.5%2020-2024	+1.9 points	Within the margin of error	42%
Broadband subscriptions	66.1%2015-2019	86.5%2020-2024	+20 points	Improved	91%
Child poverty rate	29.7%2015-2019	14.8%2020-2024	−15 points	Within the margin of error	89%
Effective property tax rate	0.73%2015-2019	0.59%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	44%
High school diploma or higher	85.4%2015-2019	89.7%2020-2024	+4.3 points	Within the margin of error	78%
Home price to income ratio	2.2×2015-2019	3.8×2020-2024	+1.6×	Declined	8%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4132015-2019	0.4382020-2024	+0.024	Within the margin of error	31%
Median household income	$37,8852015-2019	$41,6842020-2024	+10%	Within the margin of error	17%
Poverty rate	25.8%2015-2019	12.8%2020-2024	−13 points	Improved	96%
Rent as share of income	29.3%2015-2019	27.1%2020-2024	−2.2 points	Within the margin of error	70%
Rent-burdened households	47.9%2015-2019	38.7%2020-2024	−9.3 points	Within the margin of error	81%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	7.0%2015-2019	21.3%2020-2024	+14 points	Declined	1%

“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 Eldon, Missouri five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Eldon, 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, Eldon, Missouri itself moved +3.9 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

4,556 residents (±41)

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

1,985 households (±200)

Eldon, Missouri
Missouri share

Under $25k26%†509
$25k–50k31%†616
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

1,985 households (±200)

Eldon, Missouri
Missouri share

Own69%1,360
Rent31%†625

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Own (+10.4 points).

† 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

2,062 workers (±252)

Eldon, Missouri
Missouri share

Drive alone81%1,667
Carpool9.9%†205
Public transit0.0%0

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 Miller County, the county holding most of Eldon's residents.

Miller County has 714 employer establishments, 279 for every 10,000 residents (1.13× the US rate of 248; 1.14× Missouri's), with 6,325 paid employees at an average annual pay of $41,262. The Census Bureau also counts 2,084 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 714; 2,084 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 279; US 248 · Missouri 244
Paid employees: 6,325
Average annual pay: $41,262; US $68,342

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

Specialty trade contractors	94	36.8	2.38×More than typical	526	$48,800	282
Restaurants and other eating places	53	20.7	1.13×About typical	880	$23,747	9
Lessors of real estate	49	19.2	1.56×More than typical	170	$42,806	227
Construction of buildings	38	14.9	1.97×More than typical	206	$48,718	152
Full-service restaurants	32	12.5	1.63×More than typical	566	$25,449	—
Real estate agents and brokers	32	12.5	2.57×More than typical	78	$45,474	70
Building equipment contractors	29	11.3	1.89×More than typical	164	$51,823	47
Other specialty trade contractors	27	10.6	4.21×More than typical	123	$51,520	97
Services to buildings and dwellings	27	10.6	1.57×More than typical	149	$37,282	215
Ambulatory health care services	24	9.4	0.45×Fewer than typical	227	$63,771	45
Foundation, structure and building exterior contractors	22	8.6	2.73×More than typical	144	$46,368	46
Insurance agencies and brokerages	20	7.8	1.78×More than typical	77	$46,649	24

Rank places for an industry Open Miller County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 25,560 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 $0 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Eldon, Missouri: $0 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $0
Per resident: $0; US $1,994
Sole-source: —; US 30%
Single offer: —; 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

Top recipients

Spending by fiscal year

1.3KFY2018
-380.3FY2021

What was bought

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

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

See federal money in Miller 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.

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

House

Robert F. Onder, Jr.R-MO-3 · 100% of residentsWith party 98%Missed 3.0%

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.

Miller County44100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Miller 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/2921484

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends