City · Macon County, Missouri

La Plata, Missouri

La Plata is a city in Macon County, Missouri. It has 1,351 residents. La Plata, Missouri has a quality-of-life score of 45 out of 100 (moderate), ranking #8,615 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Missouri it ranks #169 of 375 cities and towns. It ranks best on students per teacher (low), drug overdose deaths (low) and grocery stores (high). It ranks worst on broadband subscriptions (low), job growth (low) and average weekly wage (low).

45Moderate

Quality-of-life score: #8,615 of 15,651 cities and towns
Missouri: #169 of 375 in MO
Population: 1,351 (2020-2024)
Land area: 2 mi²
Density: 850.5 /mi²
FIPS code: 2940682

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 73 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.

Safety54#7,170/15,637
Economy17#12,926/15,631
Housing87#1,923/14,977
Health35#10,102/15,609
Healthcare8#14,328/15,650
Environment77#3,518/15,453
Education79#3,315/15,649
Infrastructure20#12,528/15,650
Community46#8,457/15,651
Leisure & amenities49#7,964/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Students per teacher · low9.3×
99/100Missouri 12.7×United States 15.2×2024National Center for Education StatisticsMacon County value
Drug overdose deaths · low0.0 /100k
99/100Missouri 18.0 /100kUnited States 18.4 /100kMar 2025–Feb 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataMacon County value
Grocery stores · high3.3 /10k
96/100Missouri 1.5 /10kUnited States 1.7 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsMacon County value
Math scores · high3.46
94/100Missouri 2.95United States 3.032019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMacon County value
Home price to income ratio · low2.1×
89/100Missouri 3.3×United States 4.1×2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25077
Drinking water violations · low0
86/100Missouri 0United States 02024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMacon County value

Weaknesses

Broadband subscriptions · low74.7%
1/100Missouri 89.3%United States 91.0%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B28002
Job growth · low-5.1%
2/100Missouri 0.1%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataMacon County value
Average weekly wage · low$876
4/100Missouri $1,278United States $1,5142025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsMacon County value
Distance to an airport · high122 mi
5/100Missouri 40 miUnited States 33 mi2025Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauMacon County value
Hospital quality rating · low2.0
9/100Missouri 3.1United States 3.2Jul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesMacon County value
Mental health providers · low73 /100k
10/100Missouri 278 /100kUnited States 348 /100k2025University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMacon County value

Trends

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

PopulationRising
1,258 (2015-2019) → 1,351 (2020-2024)
+7.4%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
New homes permittedWorsening
1.6 /1k (2021) → 0.0 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−100%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Child poverty rateImproving
29.0% (2015-2019) → 9.8% (2020-2024)
−19 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
65.4% (2015-2019) → 74.7% (2020-2024)
+9.4 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Poverty rateImproving
17.6% (2015-2019) → 9.1% (2020-2024)
−8.4 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%
Average commute timeWorsening
16.6 min (2015-2019) → 23.3 min (2020-2024)
+41%5 yearsCensus table B08013US 26.9 min → 26.4 min

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, La Plata, Missouri improved on 2 of 11 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 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−8.4 points17.6% → 9.1%
Broadband+9.4 points65.4% → 74.7%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 11 measures

Change of every measure of La Plata, Missouri between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	16.6 min2015-2019	23.3 min2020-2024	+6.7 min	Within the margin of error	6%
Bachelor's degree or higher	17.0%2015-2019	14.2%2020-2024	−2.9 points	Within the margin of error	13%
Broadband subscriptions	65.4%2015-2019	74.7%2020-2024	+9.4 points	Improved	56%
Effective property tax rate	1.03%2015-2019	0.68%2020-2024	−0.3 points	Within the margin of error	80%
High school diploma or higher	93.2%2015-2019	93.3%2020-2024	+0.2 points	Within the margin of error	35%
Home price to income ratio	1.7×2015-2019	2.1×2020-2024	+0.4×	Within the margin of error	51%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4152015-2019	0.4802020-2024	+0.065	Within the margin of error	11%
Median household income	$42,3962015-2019	$50,0002020-2024	+18%	Within the margin of error	29%
Poverty rate	17.6%2015-2019	9.1%2020-2024	−8.4 points	Improved	90%
Rent as share of income	24.8%2015-2019	19.9%2020-2024	−4.9 points	Within the margin of error	82%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	8.8%2015-2019	13.5%2020-2024	+4.7 points	Within the margin of error	11%

“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 La Plata, Missouri five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of La Plata, 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, La Plata, Missouri itself moved −8.5 points in standing on average over the same 9 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

1,351 residents (±193)

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

550 households (±79)

La Plata, Missouri
Missouri share

Under $25k23%†129
$25k–50k27%146
$50k–75k16%†89

Homes

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

Owners and renters

550 households (±79)

La Plata, Missouri
Missouri share

Own66%361
Rent34%†189

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

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

513 workers (±89)

La Plata, Missouri
Missouri share

Drive alone80%409
Carpool9.9%†51
Public transit0.4%†2

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 Macon County, the county holding most of La Plata's residents.

Macon County has 350 employer establishments, 230 for every 10,000 residents (0.93× the US rate of 248; 0.94× Missouri's), with 3,507 paid employees at an average annual pay of $39,303. The Census Bureau also counts 1,227 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 350; 1,227 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 230; US 248 · Missouri 244
Paid employees: 3,507
Average annual pay: $39,303; US $68,342

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

Specialty trade contractors	29	19.1	1.23×About typical	77	$60,299	132
Restaurants and other eating places	26	17.1	0.93×About typical	472	$18,271	14
Ambulatory health care services	24	15.8	0.76×Fewer than typical	167	$40,683	32
Gasoline stations	15	9.9	3.05×More than typical	188	$29,266	—
Construction of buildings	14	9.2	1.22×About typical	64	$33,766	102
Full-service restaurants	14	9.2	1.20×About typical	196	$21,536	6
Religious organizations	14	9.2	1.66×More than typical	92	$16,207	—
Building equipment contractors	13	8.6	1.42×More than typical	47	$61,085	23
Automotive repair and maintenance	12	7.9	1.57×More than typical	37	$46,270	41
Insurance agencies and brokerages	10	6.6	1.50×More than typical	29	$43,069	18
Limited-service restaurants	10	6.6	0.82×About typical	262	$16,134	4
Offices of physicians	10	6.6	1.02×About typical	63	$42,222	5

Rank places for an industry Open Macon County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 15,189 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

No federal contract obligations recorded here in FY2026.

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

See federal money in Macon 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.

La Plata, 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.

Macon County54100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Macon 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/2940682

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends