City · Jackson County, Missouri

Grain Valley, Missouri

Grain Valley is a city in Jackson County, Missouri, part of the Kansas City, MO-KS metro area. It has 16,271 residents. Grain Valley, Missouri has a quality-of-life score of 56 out of 100 (moderate), ranking #6,947 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Missouri it ranks #112 of 375 cities and towns. It ranks best on distance to an Amtrak station (low), new business applications (high) and income inequality (Gini index) (low). It ranks worst on violent crime rate (high), property crime rate (high) and homicide rate (high).

56Moderate

Quality-of-life score: #6,947 of 15,651 cities and towns
Missouri: #112 of 375 in MO
Population: 16,271 (2020-2024)
Land area: 6 mi²
Density: 2,640.4 /mi²
FIPS code: 2928090

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 76 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.

Safety1#15,457/15,637
Economy77#3,662/15,631
Housing75#3,770/14,977
Health24#11,834/15,609
Healthcare71#4,589/15,650
Environment52#7,385/15,453
Education45#8,617/15,649
Infrastructure70#4,641/15,650
Community61#6,160/15,651
Leisure & amenities59#6,339/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Distance to an Amtrak station · low5 mi
95/100Missouri 33 miUnited States 43 mi2026Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauJackson County value
New business applications · high20.3 /1k
91/100Missouri 16.2 /1kUnited States 16.6 /1k2025U.S. Census BureauJackson County value
Income inequality (Gini index) · low0.360
91/100Missouri 0.465United States 0.4832020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B19083
Rent-burdened households · low37.7%
91/100Missouri 45.6%United States 51.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25070
Distance to an emergency room · low3.2 mi
89/100Missouri 6.6 miUnited States 5.5 miJul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesJackson County value
Rent as share of income · low26.1%
87/100Missouri 28.1%United States 30.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25071

Weaknesses

Violent crime rate · high799 /100k
2/100Missouri 418 /100kUnited States 328 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationJackson County value
Property crime rate · high2,963 /100k
2/100Missouri 1,644 /100kUnited States 1,535 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationJackson County value
Homicide rate · high15.0 /100k
3/100Missouri 7.7 /100kUnited States 4.8 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataJackson County value
Firearm deaths · high25.3 /100k
6/100Missouri 20.1 /100kUnited States 12.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataJackson County value
Child care cost burden · high40.5%
8/100Missouri 30.9%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteJackson County value
Injury deaths · high123 /100k
13/100Missouri 106 /100kUnited States 87 /100k2019-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteJackson County value

Trends

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

PopulationRising
13,966 (2015-2019) → 16,271 (2020-2024)
+17%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
New homes permittedWorsening
8.3 /1k (2021) → 0.0 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−100%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Child poverty rateWorsening
6.3% (2015-2019) → 17.4% (2020-2024)
+11 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
2.4× (2015-2019) → 3.2× (2020-2024)
+34%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
31.7% (2015-2019) → 37.7% (2020-2024)
+6 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Poverty rateWorsening
4.9% (2015-2019) → 9.7% (2020-2024)
+4.8 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, Grain Valley, Missouri improved on 1 of 14 measures with a comparison and declined on 3. 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.

Improved1

Household income+22%$73,698 → $89,649

Declined3

Child poverty+11 points6.3% → 17.4%
Inequality+0.0640.296 → 0.360
Price / income+0.8×2.4× → 3.2×

All 14 measures

Change of every measure of Grain Valley, Missouri between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	29.1 min2015-2019	25.8 min2020-2024	−3.3 min	Within the margin of error	81%
Bachelor's degree or higher	25.4%2015-2019	27.4%2020-2024	+1.9 points	Within the margin of error	42%
Broadband subscriptions	91.5%2015-2019	95.1%2020-2024	+3.6 points	Within the margin of error	23%
Child poverty rate	6.3%2015-2019	17.4%2020-2024	+11 points	Declined	11%
Effective property tax rate	1.53%2015-2019	1.14%2020-2024	−0.4 points	Little change	83%
High school diploma or higher	94.2%2015-2019	94.2%2020-2024	+0 points	Within the margin of error	33%
Home price to income ratio	2.4×2015-2019	3.2×2020-2024	+0.8×	Declined	31%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.2962015-2019	0.3602020-2024	+0.064	Declined	12%
Median household income	$73,6982015-2019	$89,6492020-2024	+22%	Improved	36%
Poverty rate	4.9%2015-2019	9.7%2020-2024	+4.8 points	Within the margin of error	13%
Rent as share of income	23.7%2015-2019	26.1%2020-2024	+2.4 points	Within the margin of error	37%
Rent-burdened households	31.7%2015-2019	37.7%2020-2024	+6 points	Within the margin of error	34%
Unemployment rate	2.9%2015-2019	1.8%2020-2024	−1.1 points	Within the margin of error	70%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	7.2%2015-2019	5.2%2020-2024	−2 points	Within the margin of error	68%

“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 Grain Valley, Missouri five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Grain Valley, 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, Grain Valley, Missouri itself moved −4.9 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

16,271 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

6,119 households (±369)

Grain Valley, Missouri
Missouri share

Under $25k7.8%†475
$25k–50k15%†902
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

6,119 households (±369)

Grain Valley, Missouri
Missouri share

Own65%3,978
Rent35%2,141

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

Table view

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

8,858 workers (±667)

Grain Valley, Missouri
Missouri share

Drive alone76%6,730
Carpool4.9%†438
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 Kansas City, MO-KS

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 Jackson County, the county holding most of Grain Valley's residents.

Jackson County has 18,212 employer establishments, 253 for every 10,000 residents (1.02× the US rate of 248; 1.03× Missouri's), with 360,017 paid employees at an average annual pay of $69,909. The Census Bureau also counts 57,966 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 18,212; 57,966 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 253; US 248 · Missouri 244
Paid employees: 360,017
Average annual pay: $69,909; US $68,342

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

Ambulatory health care services	1,577	21.9	1.05×About typical	18,380	$82,598	2,312
Restaurants and other eating places	1,335	18.5	1.01×About typical	30,346	$24,206	233
Specialty trade contractors	1,027	14.2	0.92×About typical	16,472	$77,994	3,517
Lessors of real estate	872	12.1	0.98×About typical	4,217	$79,429	5,972
Individual and family services	634	8.8	3.14×More than typical	4,482	$38,149	335
Limited-service restaurants	595	8.3	1.03×About typical	12,835	$20,498	113
Legal services	590	8.2	1.52×More than typical	5,542	$131,101	601
Full-service restaurants	569	7.9	1.03×About typical	15,296	$27,627	77
Religious organizations	478	6.6	1.20×About typical	8,007	$30,094	—
Accounting, tax preparation and payroll services	461	6.4	1.57×More than typical	6,597	$66,855	593
Services to buildings and dwellings	458	6.4	0.94×About typical	4,805	$39,046	3,317
Offices of other health practitioners	453	6.3	1.03×About typical	2,009	$48,696	1,189

Rank places for an industry Open Jackson County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 721,035 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 Grain Valley, 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

3.8KFY2017
0FY2019
71.4FY2020
3.4KFY2023

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 Grain Valley, Missouri, so they do not add up across cities.

Grain Valley, Missouri's figures are part of those of Jackson County, MO ($3B 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: Grain Valley is mostly in Jackson County.

See federal money in Jackson 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.

Grain Valley, 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.

Jackson County51100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Kansas City, MO-KS73

Other cities and towns in Jackson 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/2928090

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends