City · Howard County, Missouri

New Franklin, Missouri

New Franklin is a city in Howard County, Missouri, part of the Columbia, MO metro area. It has 1,170 residents. New Franklin, Missouri has a quality-of-life score of 41 out of 100 (moderate), ranking #9,291 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Missouri it ranks #192 of 375 cities and towns. It ranks best on students per teacher (low), job growth (high) and homicide rate (low). It ranks worst on arts, entertainment and recreation (low), access to exercise opportunities (low) and distance to an emergency room (high).

41Moderate

Quality-of-life score: #9,291 of 15,651 cities and towns
Missouri: #192 of 375 in MO
Population: 1,170 (2020-2024)
Land area: 1 mi²
Density: 883.3 /mi²
FIPS code: 2951824

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 72 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.

Safety47#8,325/15,637
Economy38#9,628/15,631
Housing96#631/14,977
Health37#9,822/15,609
Healthcare10#14,108/15,650
Environment83#2,634/15,453
Education25#11,659/15,649
Infrastructure18#12,858/15,650
Community64#5,574/15,651
Leisure & amenities26#11,655/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where New Franklin, Missouri ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Howard 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 · low10.9×
94/100Missouri 12.7×United States 15.2×2024National Center for Education StatisticsHoward County value
Job growth · high3.0%
94/100Missouri 0.1%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataHoward County value
Homicide rate · low0.0 /100k
94/100Missouri 7.7 /100kUnited States 4.8 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataHoward County value
Public libraries · high2.0 /10k
91/100Missouri 0.6 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesHoward County value
Rent as share of income · low23.8%
89/100Missouri 28.1%United States 30.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25071
Rent-burdened households · low33.6%
87/100Missouri 45.6%United States 51.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25070

Weaknesses

Arts, entertainment and recreation · low0.0 /10k
1/100Missouri 4.6 /10kUnited States 5.5 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsHoward County value
Access to exercise opportunities · low13.4%
1/100Missouri 76.6%United States 84.5%2022 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteHoward County value
Distance to an emergency room · high23.9 mi
1/100Missouri 6.6 miUnited States 5.5 miJul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesHoward County value
Average weekly wage · low$857
3/100Missouri $1,278United States $1,5142025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsHoward County value
Math scores · low2.49
3/100Missouri 2.95United States 3.032019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteHoward County value
Public EV charging ports · low0.0 /10k
3/100Missouri 5.3 /10kUnited States 7.6 /10kOct 2026U.S. Department of EnergyHoward County value

Trends

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

Median household incomeImproving
$34,135 (2015-2019) → $55,066 (2020-2024)
+61%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
23.8% (2015-2019) → 33.6% (2020-2024)
+9.8 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
75.4% (2015-2019) → 83.7% (2020-2024)
+8.3 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Uninsured residents (under 65)Worsening
12.8% (2015-2019) → 17.8% (2020-2024)
+5 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 9.8%
Child poverty rateImproving
20.9% (2015-2019) → 16.3% (2020-2024)
−4.6 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
15.8% (2015-2019) → 20.3% (2020-2024)
+4.5 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, New Franklin, Missouri improved on 1 of 13 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 12 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+61%$34,135 → $55,066

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 13 measures

Change of every measure of New Franklin, Missouri between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	27.7 min2015-2019	31.4 min2020-2024	+3.7 min	Within the margin of error	15%
Bachelor's degree or higher	15.8%2015-2019	20.3%2020-2024	+4.5 points	Within the margin of error	64%
Broadband subscriptions	75.4%2015-2019	83.7%2020-2024	+8.3 points	Within the margin of error	51%
Effective property tax rate	0.95%2015-2019	0.78%2020-2024	−0.2 points	Within the margin of error	51%
High school diploma or higher	81.5%2015-2019	85.8%2020-2024	+4.3 points	Within the margin of error	78%
Home price to income ratio	2.7×2015-2019	2.5×2020-2024	−0.2×	Within the margin of error	86%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4082015-2019	0.4482020-2024	+0.040	Within the margin of error	21%
Median household income	$34,1352015-2019	$55,0662020-2024	+61%	Improved	91%
Poverty rate	13.4%2015-2019	16.0%2020-2024	+2.6 points	Within the margin of error	23%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	21.4%2015-2019	23.8%2020-2024	+2.4 points	Within the margin of error	37%
Rent-burdened households	23.8%2015-2019	33.6%2020-2024	+9.8 points	Within the margin of error	24%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	12.8%2015-2019	17.8%2020-2024	+5 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 New Franklin, Missouri five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of New Franklin, 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, New Franklin, Missouri itself moved −2.4 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

1,170 residents (±218)

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

447 households (±66)

New Franklin, Missouri
Missouri share

Under $25k18%†82
$25k–50k27%†122
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

447 households (±66)

New Franklin, Missouri
Missouri share

Own68%303
Rent32%144

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

503 workers (±126)

New Franklin, Missouri
Missouri share

Drive alone75%378
Carpool12%†60
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 Columbia, 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 Howard County, the county holding most of New Franklin's residents.

Howard County has 179 employer establishments, 177 for every 10,000 residents (0.71× the US rate of 248; 0.73× Missouri's), with 2,038 paid employees at an average annual pay of $38,454. The Census Bureau also counts 777 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 179; 777 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 177; US 248 · Missouri 244
Paid employees: 2,038
Average annual pay: $38,454; US $68,342

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

Specialty trade contractors	16	15.8	1.02×About typical	44	$43,977	107
Restaurants and other eating places	12	11.9	0.65×Fewer than typical	118	$13,305	7
Truck transportation	12	11.9	2.35×More than typical	75	$56,627	32
Religious organizations	10	9.9	1.78×More than typical	61	$15,721	—
Full-service restaurants	7	6.9	0.90×Too few to compare	72	$15,514	5
Ambulatory health care services	6	5.9	0.28×Too few to compare	57	$39,825	23
Banks and credit unions	6	5.9	1.84×Too few to compare	67	$76,418	—
Building equipment contractors	6	5.9	0.99×Too few to compare	17	$47,176	12
Construction of buildings	6	5.9	0.78×Too few to compare	11	$36,364	28
Fabricated metal product manufacturing	6	5.9	3.72×Too few to compare	230	$50,135	—
Services to buildings and dwellings	6	5.9	0.88×Too few to compare	13	$46,077	63
Automotive repair and maintenance	5	4.9	0.98×Too few to compare	13	$61,231	25

Rank places for an industry Open Howard County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 10,111 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: New Franklin is mostly in Howard County.

See federal money in Howard 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.

New Franklin, 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.

Howard County47100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Columbia, MO84

Other cities and towns in Howard 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/2951824

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends