City · Vernon County, Missouri

Nevada, Missouri

Nevada is a city in Vernon County, Missouri. It has 7,925 residents. Nevada, Missouri has a quality-of-life score of 18 out of 100 (very low), ranking #12,801 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Missouri it ranks #349 of 375 cities and towns. It ranks best on time spent in the emergency room (low), average commute time (low) and homicide rate (low). It ranks worst on suicide rate (high), grocery stores (low) and math scores (low).

18Very low

Quality-of-life score: #12,801 of 15,651 cities and towns
Missouri: #349 of 375 in MO
Population: 7,925 (2020-2024)
Land area: 9 mi²
Density: 873.1 /mi²
FIPS code: 2951644

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.

Safety26#11,640/15,637
Economy9#14,284/15,631
Housing88#1,873/14,977
Health5#14,823/15,609
Healthcare24#11,913/15,650
Environment63#5,727/15,453
Education23#12,056/15,649
Infrastructure28#11,239/15,650
Community34#10,334/15,651
Leisure & amenities6#14,776/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Time spent in the emergency room · low95 min
97/100Missouri 161 minUnited States 170 minOct 2024–Sep 2025Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesVernon County value
Average commute time · low14.0 min
97/100Missouri 23.5 minUnited States 26.4 min2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08013
Homicide rate · low0.0 /100k
94/100Missouri 7.7 /100kUnited States 4.8 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataVernon County value
Drinking water violations · low0
86/100Missouri 0United States 02024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteVernon County value
Students per teacher · low11.8×
85/100Missouri 12.7×United States 15.2×2024National Center for Education StatisticsVernon County value
Rent-burdened households · low42.9%
84/100Missouri 45.6%United States 51.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25070

Weaknesses

Suicide rate · high50.7 /100k
0/100Missouri 19.1 /100kUnited States 14.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataVernon County value
Grocery stores · low0.5 /10k
1/100Missouri 1.5 /10kUnited States 1.7 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsVernon County value
Math scores · low2.43
2/100Missouri 2.95United States 3.032019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteVernon County value
Food environment index · low6.0
4/100Missouri 6.9United States 7.62019 & 2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteVernon County value
Gyms and fitness centers · low0.0 /10k
4/100Missouri 1.2 /10kUnited States 1.3 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsVernon County value
Arts, entertainment and recreation · low1.5 /10k
6/100Missouri 4.6 /10kUnited States 5.5 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsVernon County value

Trends

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

Rent-burdened householdsImproving
53.0% (2015-2019) → 42.9% (2020-2024)
−10 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Poverty rateWorsening
18.2% (2015-2019) → 27.8% (2020-2024)
+9.6 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%
New homes permittedImproving
2.0 /1k (2021) → 2.8 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
+41%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Home price to income ratioWorsening
2.1× (2015-2019) → 2.9× (2020-2024)
+38%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Child poverty rateWorsening
27.3% (2015-2019) → 34.8% (2020-2024)
+7.5 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Bachelor's degree or higherWorsening
21.4% (2015-2019) → 14.3% (2020-2024)
−7.1 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%

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, Nevada, Missouri improved on 1 of 13 measures with a comparison and declined on 2. 10 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.

Improved1

Household income+25%$34,325 → $42,813

Declined2

Poverty+9.6 points18.2% → 27.8%
Bachelor's+−7.1 points21.4% → 14.3%

All 13 measures

Change of every measure of Nevada, Missouri between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	13.6 min2015-2019	14.0 min2020-2024	+0.4 min	Within the margin of error	42%
Bachelor's degree or higher	21.4%2015-2019	14.3%2020-2024	−7.1 points	Declined	4%
Broadband subscriptions	81.0%2015-2019	83.7%2020-2024	+2.7 points	Within the margin of error	18%
Child poverty rate	27.3%2015-2019	34.8%2020-2024	+7.5 points	Within the margin of error	15%
Effective property tax rate	1.05%2015-2019	0.83%2020-2024	−0.2 points	Within the margin of error	63%
High school diploma or higher	90.2%2015-2019	90.6%2020-2024	+0.4 points	Within the margin of error	38%
Home price to income ratio	2.1×2015-2019	2.9×2020-2024	+0.8×	Within the margin of error	31%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4542015-2019	0.4172020-2024	−0.037	Within the margin of error	78%
Median household income	$34,3252015-2019	$42,8132020-2024	+25%	Improved	43%
Poverty rate	18.2%2015-2019	27.8%2020-2024	+9.6 points	Declined	5%
Rent as share of income	32.0%2015-2019	26.9%2020-2024	−5.1 points	Within the margin of error	83%
Rent-burdened households	53.0%2015-2019	42.9%2020-2024	−10 points	Within the margin of error	82%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	12.5%2015-2019	14.8%2020-2024	+2.3 points	Within the margin of error	23%

“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 Nevada, Missouri five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Nevada, 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, Nevada, Missouri itself moved +1.9 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

7,925 residents (±488)

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

3,365 households (±243)

Nevada, Missouri
Missouri share

Under $25k29%979
$25k–50k29%976
$50k–75k22%745

Homes

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

Owners and renters

3,365 households (±243)

Nevada, Missouri
Missouri share

Own53%1,779
Rent47%1,586

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

3,352 workers (±329)

Nevada, Missouri
Missouri share

Drive alone70%2,342
Carpool12%†414
Public transit0.0%†1

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 Vernon County, the county holding most of Nevada's residents.

Vernon County has 436 employer establishments, 221 for every 10,000 residents (0.89× the US rate of 248; 0.90× Missouri's), with 5,612 paid employees at an average annual pay of $42,707. The Census Bureau also counts 1,540 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 436; 1,540 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 221; US 248 · Missouri 244
Paid employees: 5,612
Average annual pay: $42,707; US $68,342

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

Restaurants and other eating places	30	15.2	0.83×About typical	541	$17,257	4
Specialty trade contractors	28	14.2	0.92×About typical	181	$33,370	200
Truck transportation	24	12.2	2.40×More than typical	140	$54,507	70
Individual and family services	23	11.6	4.16×More than typical	254	$33,051	7
Ambulatory health care services	22	11.1	0.53×Fewer than typical	191	$51,628	50
Religious organizations	19	9.6	1.73×More than typical	97	$17,278	—
Full-service restaurants	14	7.1	0.92×About typical	200	$21,655	—
Gasoline stations	14	7.1	2.19×More than typical	131	$29,412	—
Automotive repair and maintenance	13	6.6	1.31×More than typical	45	$35,756	40
Insurance agencies and brokerages	13	6.6	1.50×More than typical	50	$58,700	31
Limited-service restaurants	12	6.1	0.76×Fewer than typical	323	$14,851	—
Building equipment contractors	11	5.6	0.93×About typical	54	$47,852	25

Rank places for an industry Open Vernon County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 19,747 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 $37K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Nevada, Missouri: $4.67 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $37K; −50% vs FY2025
Per resident: $4.67; US $1,994
Sole-source: 4.3%; US 30%
Single offer: 3.8%; 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

Defense Logistics Agency$53.8K100%
Department of the Army$2,9908.1%

Top recipients

LBZ, L.L.C$36.7K99%
STATZ CORP$10.9K29%
KIT PACK, LLC$3,0548.2%
CROSSTOWN SERVICES LLC$2,9908.1%
A. J. ASSOCIATES MANUFACTURING & ENGINEERING CO. INC.$2,8937.8%

Spending by fiscal year

57.3KFY2017
35.8KFY2018
179.7KFY2019
-54.5KFY2020
31KFY2021
75.8KFY2022
141.9KFY2023
356KFY2024

Top industries (NAICS)

Aerospace product and parts manufacturing · 3364$53.8K100%
Special food services · 7223$2,9908.1%

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

Nevada, Missouri's figures are part of those of Vernon County, MO ($531.4K 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: Nevada is mostly in Vernon County.

See federal money in Vernon 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.

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

House

Mark AlfordR-MO-4 · 100% of residentsWith party 97%Missed 1.6%

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.

Vernon County27100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Vernon 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/2951644

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends