Scores by category

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

Safety49#7,987/15,637
Economy28#11,322/15,631
Housing82#2,740/14,977
Health6#14,748/15,609
Healthcare5#14,924/15,650
Environment66#5,257/15,453
Education65#5,505/15,649
Infrastructure30#10,951/15,650
Community65#5,460/15,651
Leisure & amenities40#9,360/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Ironton, Missouri ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Iron 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 · high7.5 /10k
100/100Missouri 2.1 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsIron County value
Social associations · high20.1 /10k
98/100Missouri 11.5 /10kUnited States 9.1 /10k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteIron County value
Public libraries · high3.2 /10k
96/100Missouri 0.6 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesIron County value
Effective property tax rate · low0.35%
96/100Missouri 0.89%United States 0.94%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25090
Grocery stores · high3.2 /10k
95/100Missouri 1.5 /10kUnited States 1.7 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsIron County value
Property crime rate · low403 /100k
93/100Missouri 1,644 /100kUnited States 1,535 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationCovers part of the area: some reporting agencies or member counties have no figureIron County value

Weaknesses

Primary care physicians · low11 /100k
1/100Missouri 72 /100kUnited States 76 /100k2022University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteIron County value
Premature death · high16,342 /100k
2/100Missouri 9,683 /100kUnited States 8,123 /100k2021-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteIron County value
Life expectancy · low69.5 yrs
2/100Missouri 75.7 yrsUnited States 77.6 yrs2021-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteIron County value
Primary care shortage · high19.0
3/100Missouri 10.5United States 6.2Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationIron County value
Flu vaccinations · low25.0%
3/100Missouri 44.0%United States 44.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteIron County value
Food environment index · low6.0
4/100Missouri 6.9United States 7.62019 & 2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteIron County value

Trends

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

PopulationRising
1,528 (2015-2019) → 1,692 (2020-2024)
+11%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Child poverty rateImproving
49.4% (2015-2019) → 7.5% (2020-2024)
−42 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
69.1% (2015-2019) → 47.7% (2020-2024)
−21 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Poverty rateImproving
33.0% (2015-2019) → 14.5% (2020-2024)
−18 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%
Rent as share of incomeImproving
44.8% (2015-2019) → 28.8% (2020-2024)
−16 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
72.6% (2015-2019) → 88.5% (2020-2024)
+16 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%

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, Ironton, Missouri improved on 8 of 13 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 5 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.

Improved8

Poverty−18 points33.0% → 14.5%
Rent / income−16 points44.8% → 28.8%
Rent burden−21 points69.1% → 47.7%
Bachelor's++12 points16.1% → 28.4%
Property tax−0.5 points0.82% → 0.35%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 13 measures

Change of every measure of Ironton, Missouri between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	26.2 min2015-2019	22.8 min2020-2024	−3.4 min	Within the margin of error	82%
Bachelor's degree or higher	16.1%2015-2019	28.4%2020-2024	+12 points	Improved	94%
Broadband subscriptions	72.6%2015-2019	88.5%2020-2024	+16 points	Improved	82%
Effective property tax rate	0.82%2015-2019	0.35%2020-2024	−0.5 points	Improved	89%
High school diploma or higher	82.5%2015-2019	88.4%2020-2024	+5.8 points	Improved	85%
Home price to income ratio	2.5×2015-2019	2.6×2020-2024	+0.0×	Within the margin of error	78%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4652015-2019	0.4102020-2024	−0.055	Within the margin of error	86%
Median household income	$33,2142015-2019	$46,7502020-2024	+41%	Improved	75%
Poverty rate	33.0%2015-2019	14.5%2020-2024	−18 points	Improved	99%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	44.8%2015-2019	28.8%2020-2024	−16 points	Improved	97%
Rent-burdened households	69.1%2015-2019	47.7%2020-2024	−21 points	Improved	95%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	11.1%2015-2019	12.4%2020-2024	+1.3 points	Within the margin of error	31%

“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 Ironton, Missouri five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Ironton, 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, Ironton, Missouri itself moved +25.4 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

1,692 residents (±266)

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: Under 10 men (+4.1 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

1,692 residents (±266)

Ironton, Missouri
Missouri share

White92%1,550
Black0.7%†12
Hispanic or Latino2.6%†44

Education

1,065 residents (±159)

Ironton, Missouri
Missouri share

No high school diploma12%†124
High school or GED28%295
Some college20%216

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

681 households (±101)

Ironton, Missouri
Missouri share

Under $25k27%†181
$25k–50k27%†182
$50k–75k15%†101
$75k–100k15%†103
$100k–150k14%†93
$150k–200k2.5%†17
$200k or more0.6%†4

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Under $25k (−13.1 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

681 households (±101)

Ironton, Missouri
Missouri share

Own74%505
Rent26%†176

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 B25003View table on data.census.gov

Rent paid

176 households (±59)

Ironton, Missouri
Missouri share

Under $75052%†91
$750–1,00015%†26
$1,000–1,50031%†54

Home values

505 homes (±97)

Ironton, Missouri
Missouri share

Under $150k74%375
$150k–250k17%†86
$250k–400k5.9%†30

Age of homes

787 homes (±96)

Ironton, Missouri
Missouri share

2010 or later2.3%†18
2000–20090.6%†5
1980–199927%†209

Size of homes

787 homes (±96)

Ironton, Missouri
Missouri share

Studio0.3%†2
1 bedroom13%†104
2 bedrooms25%†195

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

644 workers (±123)

Ironton, Missouri
Missouri share

Drive alone77%499
Carpool9.2%†59
Public transit0.0%0
Walk3.9%†25
Bike0.0%0
Work from home9.0%†58
Other0.5%†3

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

586 workers (±118)

Ironton, Missouri
Missouri share

Under 15 min39%†229
15–29 min30%†178
30–44 min21%†122

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 Iron County, the county holding most of Ironton's residents.

Iron County has 193 employer establishments, 204 for every 10,000 residents (0.82× the US rate of 248; 0.84× Missouri's), with 1,822 paid employees at an average annual pay of $44,910. The Census Bureau also counts 599 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 193; 599 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 204; US 248 · Missouri 244
Paid employees: 1,822
Average annual pay: $44,910; US $68,342

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

Religious organizations	15	15.9	2.86×More than typical	40	$12,550	—
Restaurants and other eating places	10	10.6	0.58×Fewer than typical	125	$19,272	4
Gasoline stations	9	9.5	2.94×Too few to compare	88	$25,443	—
Specialty trade contractors	9	9.5	0.61×Too few to compare	64	$43,719	68
Ambulatory health care services	7	7.4	0.36×Too few to compare	43	$42,581	8
Individual and family services	7	7.4	2.64×Too few to compare	98	$15,888	3
Insurance agencies and brokerages	6	6.3	1.44×Too few to compare	11	$37,636	12
Services to buildings and dwellings	6	6.3	0.94×Too few to compare	18	$44,333	52
Auto parts, accessories and tire stores	5	5.3	3.03×Too few to compare	15	$42,333	—
Automotive repair and maintenance	5	5.3	1.05×Too few to compare	26	$37,731	15
Banks and credit unions	5	5.3	1.64×Too few to compare	37	$42,135	—
Full-service restaurants	5	5.3	0.69×Too few to compare	76	$14,776	—

Rank places for an industry Open Iron County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 9,458 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 Ironton, 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

2.4KFY2018
456.5FY2019
2.1KFY2020
-61.1FY2021

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

Ironton, Missouri's figures are part of those of Iron County, MO ($207.4K 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: Ironton is mostly in Iron County.

See federal money in Iron 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.

Ironton, 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.

Iron County33100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Iron 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/2935468