Scores by category

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

Safety53#7,372/15,637
Economy8#14,346/15,631
Housing90#1,439/14,977
Health31#10,763/15,609
Healthcare56#6,897/15,650
Environment82#2,782/15,453
Education87#2,079/15,649
Infrastructure25#11,729/15,650
Community42#9,036/15,651
Leisure & amenities23#11,996/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Primary care physicians · high187 /100k
100/100Missouri 72 /100kUnited States 76 /100k2022University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteAdair County value
Average commute time · low12.7 min
99/100Missouri 23.5 minUnited States 26.4 min2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08013
Students per teacher · low10.7×
96/100Missouri 12.7×United States 15.2×2024National Center for Education StatisticsAdair County value
Homicide rate · low0.0 /100k
94/100Missouri 7.7 /100kUnited States 4.8 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataAdair County value
Rent as share of income · low24.9%
93/100Missouri 28.1%United States 30.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25071
Rent-burdened households · low40.6%
93/100Missouri 45.6%United States 51.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25070

Weaknesses

Income inequality (Gini index) · high0.611
1/100Missouri 0.465United States 0.4832020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B19083
Poverty rate · high28.2%
3/100Missouri 12.2%United States 12.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B17001
Broadband subscriptions · low81.3%
4/100Missouri 89.3%United States 91.0%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B28002
Average weekly wage · low$884
4/100Missouri $1,278United States $1,5142025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsAdair County value
Primary care shortage · high18.0
5/100Missouri 10.5United States 6.2Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationAdair County value
Voter turnout · low52.8%
7/100Missouri 66.7%United States 65.2%2024U.S. Election Assistance CommissionAdair County value

Trends

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

Rent-burdened householdsImproving
57.7% (2015-2019) → 40.6% (2020-2024)
−17 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
New homes permittedWorsening
1.2 /1k (2021) → 0.5 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−57%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Median household incomeImproving
$33,575 (2015-2019) → $50,071 (2020-2024)
+49%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Rent as share of incomeImproving
34.1% (2015-2019) → 24.9% (2020-2024)
−9.2 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
32.1% (2015-2019) → 40.3% (2020-2024)
+8.2 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
73.7% (2015-2019) → 81.3% (2020-2024)
+7.6 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, Kirksville, Missouri improved on 5 of 14 measures with a comparison and declined on 2. 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 / income−9.2 points34.1% → 24.9%
Rent burden−17 points57.7% → 40.6%
Household income+49%$33,575 → $50,071
Bachelor's++8.2 points32.1% → 40.3%
Broadband+7.6 points73.7% → 81.3%

Declined2

Inequality+0.0840.527 → 0.611
Uninsured+3.2 points7.7% → 10.8%

All 14 measures

Change of every measure of Kirksville, Missouri between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	14.3 min2015-2019	12.7 min2020-2024	−1.6 min	Within the margin of error	66%
Bachelor's degree or higher	32.1%2015-2019	40.3%2020-2024	+8.2 points	Improved	84%
Broadband subscriptions	73.7%2015-2019	81.3%2020-2024	+7.6 points	Improved	47%
Child poverty rate	19.0%2015-2019	15.3%2020-2024	−3.7 points	Within the margin of error	64%
Effective property tax rate	0.68%2015-2019	0.75%2020-2024	+0.1 points	Within the margin of error	8%
High school diploma or higher	91.6%2015-2019	94.0%2020-2024	+2.4 points	Within the margin of error	63%
Home price to income ratio	3.5×2015-2019	3.1×2020-2024	−0.5×	Within the margin of error	93%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.5272015-2019	0.6112020-2024	+0.084	Declined	7%
Median household income	$33,5752015-2019	$50,0712020-2024	+49%	Improved	84%
Poverty rate	30.8%2015-2019	28.2%2020-2024	−2.6 points	Within the margin of error	67%
Rent as share of income	34.1%2015-2019	24.9%2020-2024	−9.2 points	Improved	92%
Rent-burdened households	57.7%2015-2019	40.6%2020-2024	−17 points	Improved	91%
Unemployment rate	7.1%2015-2019	4.0%2020-2024	−3.1 points	Within the margin of error	90%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	7.7%2015-2019	10.8%2020-2024	+3.2 points	Declined	18%

“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 Kirksville, Missouri five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Kirksville, 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, Kirksville, Missouri itself moved +13 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

17,563 residents (±34)

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: 50–59 women (−1.6 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

17,563 residents (±34)

Kirksville, Missouri
Missouri share

White83%14,562
Black6.4%1,119
Hispanic or Latino3.7%657
Asian2.9%†515
American Indian and Alaska Native0.4%†78
Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander0.0%0
Other or two or more races3.6%†632

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: White (−5.5 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 B03002View table on data.census.gov

Education

8,693 residents (±272)

Kirksville, Missouri
Missouri share

No high school diploma6.0%521
High school or GED32%2,782
Some college16%1,353
Associate degree6.1%†533
Bachelor's degree18%1,539
Graduate degree23%1,965

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Graduate degree (+5.1 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 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

6,251 households (±292)

Kirksville, Missouri
Missouri share

Under $25k29%1,809
$25k–50k21%1,313
$50k–75k18%1,132
$75k–100k13%788
$100k–150k11%692
$150k–200k2.4%†151
$200k or more5.9%366

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

6,251 households (±292)

Kirksville, Missouri
Missouri share

Own48%3,019
Rent52%3,232

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

3,067 households (±323)

Kirksville, Missouri
Missouri share

Under $75047%1,433
$750–1,00030%924
$1,000–1,50017%523

Home values

3,019 homes (±281)

Kirksville, Missouri
Missouri share

Under $150k48%1,464
$150k–250k32%975
$250k–400k15%464

Age of homes

7,609 homes (±197)

Kirksville, Missouri
Missouri share

2010 or later7.9%601
2000–20096.1%†465
1980–199919%1,409

Size of homes

7,609 homes (±197)

Kirksville, Missouri
Missouri share

Studio7.3%†556
1 bedroom13%1,026
2 bedrooms32%2,401

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

7,040 workers (±572)

Kirksville, Missouri
Missouri share

Drive alone77%5,399
Carpool11%805
Public transit0.1%†8
Walk3.9%†273
Bike0.5%†36
Work from home6.7%474
Other0.6%†45

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Work from home (+2.7 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 B08301View table on data.census.gov

Time to get to work

6,566 workers (±584)

Kirksville, Missouri
Missouri share

Under 15 min74%4,891
15–29 min14%947
30–44 min6.4%†419

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

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 Kirksville, 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 Adair County, the county holding most of Kirksville's residents.

Adair County has 606 employer establishments, 241 for every 10,000 residents (0.97× the US rate of 248; 0.99× Missouri's), with 8,275 paid employees at an average annual pay of $42,891. The Census Bureau also counts 1,709 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 606; 1,709 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 241; US 248 · Missouri 244
Paid employees: 8,275
Average annual pay: $42,891; US $68,342

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

Ambulatory health care services	79	31.4	1.51×More than typical	946	$62,263	59
Restaurants and other eating places	39	15.5	0.84×About typical	949	$15,928	11
Home health care services	27	10.7	8.86×More than typical	118	$79,483	10
Religious organizations	27	10.7	1.93×More than typical	109	$16,486	—
Automotive repair and maintenance	24	9.5	1.89×More than typical	95	$42,063	31
Offices of physicians	22	8.7	1.35×More than typical	341	$69,745	24
Limited-service restaurants	20	7.9	0.99×About typical	517	$14,886	6
Specialty trade contractors	20	7.9	0.51×Fewer than typical	64	$65,656	184
Lessors of real estate	18	7.2	0.58×Fewer than typical	50	$38,200	140
Full-service restaurants	17	6.8	0.88×About typical	383	$18,125	5
Gasoline stations	16	6.4	1.96×More than typical	118	$28,653	—
Legal services	16	6.4	1.18×About typical	42	$43,810	10

Rank places for an industry Open Adair County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 25,168 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 $263.7K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Kirksville, Missouri: $15.02 per resident (US $1,995).

Obligations: $263.7K; −8.5% vs FY2025
Per resident: $15.02; US $1,995
Sole-source: 33%; 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 Veterans Affairs$111.6K42%
Department of the Navy$85.8K33%
Federal Aviation Administration$57.9K22%
Department of the Army$8,4453.2%

Top recipients

NORTHEAST MISSOURI HEALTH COUNCIL, INC.$111.6K42%
A. T. STILL UNIVERSITY OF HEALTH SCIENCES$85.8K33%
HIGH COUNTRY CONTRACTORS INC$57.9K22%
ECC ENVIRONMENTAL LLC$5,0101.9%
EA ENGINEERING, SCIENCE, AND TECHNOLOGY, INC., PBC$2,5921.0%

Spending by fiscal year

178.8KFY2017
226.7KFY2018
223.4KFY2019
241.8KFY2020
237.1KFY2021
297.3KFY2022
325.2KFY2023
222.2K

Top industries (NAICS)

Outpatient care centers · 6214$111.6K42%
Colleges, universities, and professional schools · 6113$85.8K33%
Utility system construction · 2371$57.9K22%
Remediation and other waste management services · 5629$7,6012.9%
Services to buildings and dwellings · 5617$8440.3%

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 6, 2026, loaded Oct 6, 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 Kirksville, Missouri, so they do not add up across cities.

Kirksville, Missouri's figures are part of those of Adair County, MO ($3.8M in FY2026), never added to them: 7.0% of that total.

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

See federal money in Adair 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.

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

House

Sam GravesR-MO-6 · 100% of residentsWith party 99%Missed 7.0%

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.

Adair County51100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Kirksville, MO59

Other cities and towns in Adair 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/2939026

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends