Scores by category

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

Safety15#13,366/15,637
Economy8#14,458/15,631
Housing96#674/14,977
Health6#14,666/15,609
Healthcare0#15,632/15,650
Environment23#11,972/15,453
Education32#10,696/15,649
Infrastructure9#14,275/15,650
Community32#10,718/15,651
Leisure & amenities16#13,080/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Effective property tax rate · low0.10%
100/100Missouri 0.89%United States 0.94%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25090High uncertainty
Job growth · high4.9%
98/100Missouri 0.1%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataMcDonald County value
Rent as share of income · low22.6%
97/100Missouri 28.1%United States 30.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25071
Rent-burdened households · low25.3%
96/100Missouri 45.6%United States 51.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25070
Grocery stores · high2.5 /10k
88/100Missouri 1.5 /10kUnited States 1.7 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsMcDonald County value
Average commute time · low16.6 min
87/100Missouri 23.5 minUnited States 26.4 min2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08013

Weaknesses

Physical inactivity · high45.0%
1/100Missouri 31.3%United States 26.5%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
Pharmacies · low0.0 /10k
1/100Missouri 2.1 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsMcDonald County value
Primary care physicians · low13 /100k
2/100Missouri 72 /100kUnited States 76 /100k2022University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMcDonald County value
Mental health providers · low29 /100k
2/100Missouri 278 /100kUnited States 348 /100k2025University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMcDonald County value
Adult obesity · high47.4%
2/100Missouri 38.9%United States 38.2%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
Poor or fair health · high35.2%
2/100Missouri 22.2%United States 19.9%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate

Trends

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

PopulationFalling
2,141 (2015-2019) → 1,913 (2020-2024)
−11%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
41.3% (2015-2019) → 75.7% (2020-2024)
+34 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
New homes permittedWorsening
1.1 /1k (2021) → 0.0 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−100%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Child poverty rateImproving
51.9% (2015-2019) → 39.0% (2020-2024)
−13 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Median household incomeImproving
$25,847 (2015-2019) → $41,483 (2020-2024)
+60%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Uninsured residents (under 65)Improving
27.4% (2015-2019) → 15.6% (2020-2024)
−12 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 9.8%

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, Noel, Missouri improved on 6 of 13 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 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.

Improved6

Broadband+34 points41.3% → 75.7%
Uninsured−12 points27.4% → 15.6%
Household income+60%$25,847 → $41,483
Inequality−0.0720.445 → 0.374
Bachelor's++9.1 points5.7% → 14.8%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 13 measures

Change of every measure of Noel, Missouri between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	15.9 min2015-2019	16.6 min2020-2024	+0.7 min	Within the margin of error	39%
Bachelor's degree or higher	5.7%2015-2019	14.8%2020-2024	+9.1 points	Improved	87%
Broadband subscriptions	41.3%2015-2019	75.7%2020-2024	+34 points	Improved	99%
Child poverty rate	51.9%2015-2019	39.0%2020-2024	−13 points	Within the margin of error	86%
High school diploma or higher	67.2%2015-2019	66.7%2020-2024	−0.5 points	Within the margin of error	28%
Home price to income ratio	2.7×2015-2019	3.0×2020-2024	+0.3×	Within the margin of error	64%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4452015-2019	0.3742020-2024	−0.072	Improved	91%
Median household income	$25,8472015-2019	$41,4832020-2024	+60%	Improved	91%
Poverty rate	38.2%2015-2019	27.2%2020-2024	−11 points	Within the margin of error	94%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	26.4%2015-2019	22.6%2020-2024	−3.8 points	Improved	78%
Rent-burdened households	34.1%2015-2019	25.3%2020-2024	−8.8 points	Within the margin of error	80%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	27.4%2015-2019	15.6%2020-2024	−12 points	Improved	98%

“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 Noel, Missouri five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Noel, 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, Noel, Missouri itself moved +11.3 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

1,913 residents (±375)

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: 30–39 women (+5.0 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

1,913 residents (±375)

Noel, Missouri
Missouri share

White26%†503
Black23%†433
Hispanic or Latino38%†728

Education

1,039 residents (±206)

Noel, Missouri
Missouri share

No high school diploma33%†346
High school or GED32%†337
Some college13%†

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

647 households (±137)

Noel, Missouri
Missouri share

Under $25k24%†154
$25k–50k34%†223
$50k–75k22%†144
$75k–100k12%†78
$100k–150k3.7%†24
$150k–200k2.8%†18
$200k or more0.9%†6

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Under $25k (−23.3 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

647 households (±137)

Noel, Missouri
Missouri share

Own31%†200
Rent69%447

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

445 households (±103)

Noel, Missouri
Missouri share

Under $75054%†240
$750–1,00021%†93
$1,000–1,50025%†112

Home values

200 homes (±69)

Noel, Missouri
Missouri share

Under $150k69%†138
$150k–250k12%†24
$250k–400k12%†23

Age of homes

757 homes (±155)

Noel, Missouri
Missouri share

2010 or later9.8%†74
2000–200911%†81
1980–199924%†181

Size of homes

757 homes (±155)

Noel, Missouri
Missouri share

Studio7.5%†57
1 bedroom18%†137
2 bedrooms42%†318

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

735 workers (±199)

Noel, Missouri
Missouri share

Drive alone72%†526
Carpool26%†193
Public transit0.0%0
Walk0.0%0
Bike0.0%0
Work from home0.8%†6
Other1.4%†10

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

729 workers (±198)

Noel, Missouri
Missouri share

Under 15 min57%†414
15–29 min18%†131
30–44 min15%†112

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 McDonald County, the county holding most of Noel's residents.

McDonald County has 312 employer establishments, 130 for every 10,000 residents (0.52× the US rate of 248; 0.53× Missouri's), with 5,178 paid employees at an average annual pay of $41,604. The Census Bureau also counts 1,730 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 312; 1,730 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 130; US 248 · Missouri 244
Paid employees: 5,178
Average annual pay: $41,604; US $68,342

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

Specialty trade contractors	34	14.2	0.92×About typical	175	$47,480	311
Ambulatory health care services	25	10.4	0.50×Fewer than typical	91	$57,352	29
Restaurants and other eating places	21	8.8	0.48×Fewer than typical	216	$18,269	12
Religious organizations	16	6.7	1.20×About typical	49	$20,816	—
Outpatient care centers	15	6.3	3.40×More than typical	35	$45,200	—
Gasoline stations	12	5	1.54×More than typical	153	$18,320	—
Construction of buildings	11	4.6	0.61×Fewer than typical	74	$51,865	151
Foundation, structure and building exterior contractors	11	4.6	1.46×More than typical	56	$43,196	63
Full-service restaurants	11	4.6	0.60×Fewer than typical	79	$26,392	5
Building equipment contractors	10	4.2	0.69×Fewer than typical	89	$44,225	56
Truck transportation	10	4.2	0.82×About typical	91	$61,330	87
Banks and credit unions	9	3.8	1.16×Too few to compare	70	$60,900	—

Rank places for an industry Open McDonald County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 23,985 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 Noel, 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

57.6KFY2018
63.1KFY2020
0FY2021

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

Noel, Missouri's figures are part of those of McDonald County, MO ($15K 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: Noel is mostly in McDonald County.

See federal money in McDonald 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.

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

House

Eric BurlisonR-MO-7 · 100% of residentsWith party 97%Missed 4.6%

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.

McDonald County5100% of residents

Other cities and towns in McDonald 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/2952742