City · Scott County, Missouri

Scott City, Missouri

Scott City is a city in Scott County, Missouri, part of the Sikeston, MO metro area. It has 4,371 residents. Scott City, Missouri has a quality-of-life score of 23 out of 100 (low), ranking #12,016 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Missouri it ranks #314 of 375 cities and towns. It ranks best on effective property tax rate (low), rent-burdened households (low) and social associations (high). It ranks worst on firearm deaths (high), primary care shortage (high) and distance to an airport (high).

23Low

Quality-of-life score: #12,016 of 15,651 cities and towns
Missouri: #314 of 375 in MO
Population: 4,371 (2020-2024)
Land area: 5 mi²
Density: 895.8 /mi²
FIPS code: 2966368

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 74 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.

Safety5#14,916/15,637
Economy41#9,181/15,631
Housing100#74/14,977
Health10#14,050/15,609
Healthcare18#12,762/15,650
Environment3#14,943/15,453
Education26#11,537/15,649
Infrastructure43#8,934/15,650
Community71#4,543/15,651
Leisure & amenities24#11,961/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Scott City, Missouri ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Scott 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 · low0.34%
96/100Missouri 0.89%United States 0.94%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25090High uncertainty
Rent-burdened households · low26.6%
96/100Missouri 45.6%United States 51.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25070
Social associations · high15.6 /10k
93/100Missouri 11.5 /10kUnited States 9.1 /10k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteScott County value
Rent as share of income · low24.1%
92/100Missouri 28.1%United States 30.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25071
Income inequality (Gini index) · low0.353
91/100Missouri 0.465United States 0.4832020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B19083
Home price to income ratio · low2.4×
84/100Missouri 3.3×United States 4.1×2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25077

Weaknesses

Firearm deaths · high29.0 /100k
3/100Missouri 20.1 /100kUnited States 12.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataScott County value
Primary care shortage · high19.0
3/100Missouri 10.5United States 6.2Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationScott County value
Distance to an airport · high125 mi
5/100Missouri 40 miUnited States 33 mi2025Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauScott County value
Comfortable days · low23.0%
7/100Missouri 24.9%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationScott County value
Violent crime rate · high535 /100k
8/100Missouri 418 /100kUnited States 328 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationCovers part of the area: some reporting agencies or member counties have no figureScott County value
Hospital quality rating · low2.0
9/100Missouri 3.1United States 3.2Jul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesScott County value

Trends

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

Child poverty rateImproving
60.9% (2015-2019) → 19.1% (2020-2024)
−42 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
New homes permittedImproving
0.9 /1k (2021) → 2.7 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
+201%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
57.8% (2015-2019) → 26.6% (2020-2024)
−31 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Poverty rateImproving
30.5% (2015-2019) → 11.2% (2020-2024)
−19 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%
Median household incomeImproving
$38,462 (2015-2019) → $62,599 (2020-2024)
+63%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Rent as share of incomeImproving
33.1% (2015-2019) → 24.1% (2020-2024)
−9 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%

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, Scott City, Missouri improved on 8 of 12 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 4 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.

Improved8

Child poverty−42 points60.9% → 19.1%
Poverty−19 points30.5% → 11.2%
Inequality−0.1460.499 → 0.353
Rent burden−31 points57.8% → 26.6%
Uninsured−8.1 points17.5% → 9.4%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 12 measures

Change of every measure of Scott City, Missouri between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	19.6 min2015-2019	21.6 min2020-2024	+2.0 min	Within the margin of error	27%
Bachelor's degree or higher	10.5%2015-2019	15.2%2020-2024	+4.7 points	Within the margin of error	65%
Broadband subscriptions	82.1%2015-2019	90.7%2020-2024	+8.6 points	Improved	53%
Child poverty rate	60.9%2015-2019	19.1%2020-2024	−42 points	Improved	99%
High school diploma or higher	84.8%2015-2019	86.4%2020-2024	+1.6 points	Within the margin of error	54%
Home price to income ratio	2.4×2015-2019	2.4×2020-2024	−0.1×	Within the margin of error	82%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4992015-2019	0.3532020-2024	−0.146	Improved	99%
Median household income	$38,4622015-2019	$62,5992020-2024	+63%	Improved	92%
Poverty rate	30.5%2015-2019	11.2%2020-2024	−19 points	Improved	99%
Rent as share of income	33.1%2015-2019	24.1%2020-2024	−9 points	Improved	92%
Rent-burdened households	57.8%2015-2019	26.6%2020-2024	−31 points	Improved	98%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	17.5%2015-2019	9.4%2020-2024	−8.1 points	Improved	94%

“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 Scott City, Missouri five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Scott City, 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, Scott City, Missouri itself moved +26.7 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

4,371 residents (±26)

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

1,726 households (±149)

Scott City, Missouri
Missouri share

Under $25k11%†196
$25k–50k23%400
$50k–75k24%†419

Homes

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

Owners and renters

1,726 households (±149)

Scott City, Missouri
Missouri share

Own72%1,235
Rent28%491

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Own (+12.2 points).

Table view

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

2,236 workers (±239)

Scott City, Missouri
Missouri share

Drive alone85%1,903
Carpool6.7%†150
Public transit0.1%†2

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 Sikeston, 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 Scott County, the county holding most of Scott City's residents.

Scott County has 970 employer establishments, 256 for every 10,000 residents (1.03× the US rate of 248; 1.05× Missouri's), with 14,139 paid employees at an average annual pay of $47,998. The Census Bureau also counts 2,516 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 970; 2,516 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 256; US 248 · Missouri 244
Paid employees: 14,139
Average annual pay: $47,998; US $68,342

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

Ambulatory health care services	71	18.7	0.90×About typical	860	$77,059	91
Restaurants and other eating places	64	16.9	0.92×About typical	1,023	$21,078	18
Specialty trade contractors	62	16.4	1.06×About typical	458	$58,917	215
Truck transportation	48	12.7	2.51×More than typical	616	$57,664	68
Religious organizations	41	10.8	1.95×More than typical	207	$18,995	—
Offices of physicians	31	8.2	1.26×More than typical	297	$127,993	18
Building equipment contractors	29	7.7	1.27×More than typical	211	$61,152	51
Full-service restaurants	27	7.1	0.93×About typical	421	$26,121	4
Limited-service restaurants	27	7.1	0.89×About typical	530	$18,551	12
Lessors of real estate	26	6.9	0.56×Fewer than typical	54	$36,204	295
Services to buildings and dwellings	22	5.8	0.86×About typical	281	$37,285	234
Individual and family services	21	5.5	1.98×More than typical	559	$40,789	5

Rank places for an industry Open Scott County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 37,885 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 $821K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Scott City, Missouri: $188 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $821K; +225% vs FY2025
Per resident: $188; US $1,994
Sole-source: 0.2%; US 30%
Single offer: 0.6%; 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

Agricultural Marketing Service$787.3K96%
Public Buildings Service$20.8K2.5%
Department of Veterans Affairs$12.8K1.6%
Office of Procurement Operations$75.910.0%

Top recipients

SEMO MILLING LLC$787.3K96%
CMC & MAINTENANCE INC$19.1K2.3%
SHELBYVILLE LAUNDRY INC$6,6320.8%
PHILIPS NORTH AMERICA LLC$4,8460.6%
ADVANCED MOBILITY & SHELTER TECHNOLOGIES, LLC$1,2490.2%

Spending by fiscal year

210.6KFY2017
31.5KFY2018
21.1KFY2019
54.9KFY2020
93.4KFY2021
738.8KFY2022
644.3KFY2023
1.8MFY2024

Top industries (NAICS)

Grain and oilseed milling · 3112$787.3K96%
Facilities support services · 5612$20.1K2.5%
Drycleaning and laundry services · 8123$6,6320.8%
Navigational, measuring, electromedical, and control instruments manufacturing · 3345$4,8460.6%
Medical and diagnostic laboratories · 6215$1,2490.2%
Nonresidential building construction · 2362$952

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 Scott City, Missouri, so they do not add up across cities.

Scott City, Missouri's figures are part of those of Scott County, MO and Cape Girardeau County, MO ($13.4M in FY2026), never added to them: 6.1% of that total.

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

See federal money in Scott 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.

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

House

Jason SmithR-MO-8 · 100% of residentsWith party 99%Missed 1.3%

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.

Scott County32100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Sikeston, MO18

Other cities and towns in Scott 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/2966368

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends