City · Mercer County, Missouri

Princeton, Missouri

Princeton is a city in Mercer County, Missouri. It has 1,352 residents. Princeton, Missouri has a quality-of-life score of 62 out of 100 (high), ranking #5,939 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Missouri it ranks #97 of 375 cities and towns. It ranks best on property crime rate (low), students per teacher (low) and gyms and fitness centers (high). It ranks worst on dentists (low), access to exercise opportunities (low) and food environment index (low).

62High

Quality-of-life score: #5,939 of 15,651 cities and towns
Missouri: #97 of 375 in MO
Population: 1,352 (2020-2024)
Land area: 2 mi²
Density: 850.9 /mi²
FIPS code: 2959942

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.

Safety75#3,973/15,637
Economy50#7,773/15,631
Housing97#401/14,977
Health31#10,757/15,609
Healthcare9#14,204/15,650
Environment70#4,693/15,453
Education83#2,690/15,649
Infrastructure5#14,853/15,650
Community64#5,562/15,651
Leisure & amenities96#577/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Property crime rate · low44 /100k
100/100Missouri 1,644 /100kUnited States 1,535 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationMercer County value
Students per teacher · low8.2×
100/100Missouri 12.7×United States 15.2×2024National Center for Education StatisticsMercer County value
Gyms and fitness centers · high2.9 /10k
99/100Missouri 1.2 /10kUnited States 1.3 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsMercer County value
Firearm deaths · low0.0 /100k
99/100Missouri 20.1 /100kUnited States 12.1 /100k2024Centers for Disease Control and PreventionMercer County value
Home price to income ratio · low1.3×
99/100Missouri 3.3×United States 4.1×2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25077
Drug overdose deaths · low0.0 /100k
99/100Missouri 18.0 /100kUnited States 18.4 /100k2024Centers for Disease Control and PreventionMercer County value

Weaknesses

Dentists · low0 /100k
0/100Missouri 64 /100kUnited States 75 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMercer County value
Access to exercise opportunities · low6.3%
0/100Missouri 76.6%United States 84.5%2022 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMercer County value
Food environment index · low4.3
1/100Missouri 6.9United States 7.62019 & 2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMercer County value
Distance to an emergency room · high21.0 mi
2/100Missouri 6.6 miUnited States 5.5 miJul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesMercer County value
Public EV charging ports · low0.0 /10k
3/100Missouri 5.3 /10kUnited States 7.6 /10kOct 2026U.S. Department of EnergyMercer County value
Mental health care shortage · high19.0
4/100Missouri 13.0United States 9.9Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationMercer County value

Trends

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

PopulationRising
1,142 (2015-2019) → 1,352 (2020-2024)
+18%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Child poverty rateWorsening
6.7% (2015-2019) → 28.8% (2020-2024)
+22 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
60.0% (2015-2019) → 79.7% (2020-2024)
+20 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Median household incomeImproving
$34,074 (2015-2019) → $58,558 (2020-2024)
+72%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Uninsured residents (under 65)Improving
17.1% (2015-2019) → 6.7% (2020-2024)
−10 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 9.8%
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
11.2% (2015-2019) → 18.6% (2020-2024)
+7.5 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, Princeton, Missouri improved on 3 of 12 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.

Improved3

Uninsured−10 points17.1% → 6.7%
Household income+72%$34,074 → $58,558
Broadband+20 points60.0% → 79.7%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 12 measures

Change of every measure of Princeton, Missouri between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	20.4 min2015-2019	22.1 min2020-2024	+1.8 min	Within the margin of error	29%
Bachelor's degree or higher	11.2%2015-2019	18.6%2020-2024	+7.5 points	Within the margin of error	81%
Broadband subscriptions	60.0%2015-2019	79.7%2020-2024	+20 points	Improved	90%
Effective property tax rate	1.11%2015-2019	0.95%2020-2024	−0.2 points	Within the margin of error	49%
High school diploma or higher	87.1%2015-2019	89.7%2020-2024	+2.6 points	Within the margin of error	65%
Home price to income ratio	1.8×2015-2019	1.3×2020-2024	−0.4×	Within the margin of error	92%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4212015-2019	0.3782020-2024	−0.042	Within the margin of error	81%
Median household income	$34,0742015-2019	$58,5582020-2024	+72%	Improved	95%
Poverty rate	11.2%2015-2019	18.0%2020-2024	+6.8 points	Within the margin of error	8%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	20.9%2015-2019	21.9%2020-2024	+1 points	Within the margin of error	47%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	17.1%2015-2019	6.7%2020-2024	−10 points	Improved	97%

“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 Princeton, Missouri five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Princeton, 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, Princeton, Missouri itself moved +7.2 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

1,352 residents (±190)

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

507 households (±76)

Princeton, Missouri
Missouri share

Under $25k24%†122
$25k–50k19%†97
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

507 households (±76)

Princeton, Missouri
Missouri share

Own72%367
Rent28%†140

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

633 workers (±103)

Princeton, Missouri
Missouri share

Drive alone68%428
Carpool15%†95
Public transit0.0%0

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 Mercer County, the county holding most of Princeton's residents.

Mercer County has 79 employer establishments, 226 for every 10,000 residents (0.91× the US rate of 248; 0.93× Missouri's), with 384 paid employees at an average annual pay of $39,302. The Census Bureau also counts 291 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 79; 291 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 226; US 248 · Missouri 244
Paid employees: 384
Average annual pay: $39,302; US $68,342

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

Specialty trade contractors	6	17.2	1.11×Too few to compare	8	$42,250	55
Automotive repair and maintenance	5	14.3	2.85×Too few to compare	11	$27,364	5
Heavy and civil engineering construction	5	14.3	12.5×Too few to compare	20	$50,300	—
Religious organizations	5	14.3	2.58×Too few to compare	11	$13,636	—
Full-service restaurants	4	11.5	1.49×Too few to compare	6	$12,667	—
Other specialty trade contractors	4	11.5	4.57×Too few to compare	4	$52,250	28
Restaurants and other eating places	4	11.5	0.62×Too few to compare	6	$12,667	—
Accounting, tax preparation and payroll services	3	8.6	2.11×Too few to compare	14	$24,643	—
Commercial and industrial machinery repair	3	8.6	12.6×Too few to compare	5	$24,200	—
Fabricated metal product manufacturing	3	8.6	5.38×Too few to compare	7	$34,286	—
Gasoline stations	3	8.6	2.65×Too few to compare	28	$28,036	—
Lessors of real estate	3	8.6	0.70×Too few to compare	3	$21,000	12

Rank places for an industry Open Mercer County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 3,490 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: Princeton is mostly in Mercer County.

See federal money in Mercer 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.

Princeton, 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.

Mercer County49100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Mercer 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/2959942

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends