City · Phelps County, Missouri

St. James, Missouri

St. James is a city in Phelps County, Missouri, part of the Rolla, MO metro area. It has 3,916 residents. St. James, Missouri has a quality-of-life score of 44 out of 100 (moderate), ranking #8,742 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Missouri it ranks #171 of 375 cities and towns. It ranks best on job growth (high), voter turnout (high) and average commute time (low). It ranks worst on dental care shortage (high), hospital quality rating (low) and primary care shortage (high).

44Moderate

Quality-of-life score: #8,742 of 15,651 cities and towns
Missouri: #171 of 375 in MO
Population: 3,916 (2020-2024)
Land area: 4 mi²
Density: 923.3 /mi²
FIPS code: 2964424

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.

Safety21#12,430/15,637
Economy24#11,909/15,631
Housing86#2,115/14,977
Health18#12,762/15,609
Healthcare25#11,783/15,650
Environment85#2,361/15,453
Education60#6,243/15,649
Infrastructure50#7,892/15,650
Community77#3,630/15,651
Leisure & amenities17#12,946/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Job growth · high1.9%
87/100Missouri 0.1%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataPhelps County value
Voter turnout · high74.7%
85/100Missouri 66.7%United States 65.2%2024U.S. Election Assistance CommissionPhelps County value
Average commute time · low20.5 min
80/100Missouri 23.5 minUnited States 26.4 min2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08013
Loneliness · low33.2%
76/100Missouri 32.5%United States 33.2%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
High ozone days · low0 days
76/100Missouri 2 daysUnited States 7 days2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyPhelps County value
Rent as share of income · low27.5%
76/100Missouri 28.1%United States 30.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25071

Weaknesses

Dental care shortage · high18.0
6/100Missouri 9.4United States 5.7Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationPhelps County value
Hospital quality rating · low2.0
9/100Missouri 3.1United States 3.2Jul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesPhelps County value
Primary care shortage · high17.0
9/100Missouri 10.5United States 6.2Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationPhelps County value
Grocery stores · low0.9 /10k
9/100Missouri 1.5 /10kUnited States 1.7 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsPhelps County value
Premature death · high12,217 /100k
12/100Missouri 9,683 /100kUnited States 8,123 /100k2021-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstitutePhelps County value
Distance to an airport · high92 mi
12/100Missouri 40 miUnited States 33 mi2025Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauPhelps County value

Trends

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

New homes permittedImproving
1.0 /1k (2021) → 4.3 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
+331%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
76.2% (2015-2019) → 92.2% (2020-2024)
+16 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Child poverty rateWorsening
15.1% (2015-2019) → 28.6% (2020-2024)
+14 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Median household incomeImproving
$42,615 (2015-2019) → $53,453 (2020-2024)
+25%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Home price to income ratioWorsening
2.2× (2015-2019) → 2.7× (2020-2024)
+23%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Unemployment rateWorsening
3.3% (2015-2019) → 7.5% (2020-2024)
+4.2 pts5 yearsCensus table B23025US 3.7% → 4.0%

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, St. James, 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

Broadband+16 points76.2% → 92.2%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 13 measures

Change of every measure of St. James, Missouri between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	21.5 min2015-2019	20.4 min2020-2024	−1.1 min	Within the margin of error	61%
Bachelor's degree or higher	22.9%2015-2019	20.3%2020-2024	−2.6 points	Within the margin of error	14%
Broadband subscriptions	76.2%2015-2019	92.2%2020-2024	+16 points	Improved	82%
Effective property tax rate	0.77%2015-2019	0.80%2020-2024	+0 points	Within the margin of error	11%
High school diploma or higher	82.8%2015-2019	85.8%2020-2024	+3 points	Within the margin of error	69%
Home price to income ratio	2.2×2015-2019	2.7×2020-2024	+0.5×	Within the margin of error	48%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4142015-2019	0.3972020-2024	−0.016	Within the margin of error	65%
Median household income	$42,6152015-2019	$53,4532020-2024	+25%	Within the margin of error	45%
Poverty rate	19.1%2015-2019	19.4%2020-2024	+0.3 points	Within the margin of error	41%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	30.8%2015-2019	27.5%2020-2024	−3.3 points	Within the margin of error	76%
Rent-burdened households	51.2%2015-2019	50.0%2020-2024	−1.2 points	Within the margin of error	61%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	10.9%2015-2019	11.6%2020-2024	+0.7 points	Within the margin of error	38%

“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 St. James, Missouri five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of St. James, 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, St. James, Missouri itself moved +4.6 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

3,916 residents (±15)

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

1,596 households (±202)

St. James, Missouri
Missouri share

Under $25k23%†363
$25k–50k23%†366
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

1,596 households (±202)

St. James, Missouri
Missouri share

Own58%928
Rent42%668

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

1,502 workers (±293)

St. James, Missouri
Missouri share

Drive alone69%1,037
Carpool15%†231
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 Rolla, 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 Phelps County, the county holding most of St. James's residents.

Phelps County has 1,050 employer establishments, 232 for every 10,000 residents (0.93× the US rate of 248; 0.95× Missouri's), with 15,928 paid employees at an average annual pay of $44,725. The Census Bureau also counts 2,946 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 1,050; 2,946 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 232; US 248 · Missouri 244
Paid employees: 15,928
Average annual pay: $44,725; US $68,342

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

Ambulatory health care services	81	17.9	0.86×About typical	1,030	$66,444	113
Restaurants and other eating places	75	16.6	0.90×About typical	1,754	$18,460	11
Specialty trade contractors	58	12.8	0.83×About typical	232	$50,987	247
Religious organizations	39	8.6	1.55×More than typical	281	$23,833	—
Automotive repair and maintenance	35	7.7	1.53×More than typical	209	$45,411	53
Limited-service restaurants	33	7.3	0.91×About typical	905	$17,495	—
Individual and family services	29	6.4	2.29×More than typical	380	$40,700	30
Full-service restaurants	28	6.2	0.81×About typical	715	$19,284	7
Lessors of real estate	27	6	0.48×Fewer than typical	70	$32,486	302
Truck transportation	27	6	1.18×About typical	482	$90,388	79
Gasoline stations	26	5.7	1.77×More than typical	325	$29,662	—
Construction of buildings	25	5.5	0.73×Fewer than typical	96	$48,833	116

Rank places for an industry Open Phelps County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 45,285 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 $36K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in St. James, Missouri: $9.19 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $36K; +1,159% vs FY2025
Per resident: $9.19; US $1,994
Sole-source: 0.0%; US 30%
Single offer: 0.0%; 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

Department of the Navy$36.9K100%

Top recipients

PRODUCT INNOVATION AND ENGINEERING LLC$36.9K100%
TECHLAW CONSULTANTS INC-$8700.0%

Spending by fiscal year

8.2KFY2017
22.9KFY2018
35.3KFY2019
57.8KFY2020
20.2KFY2021
24.1KFY2022
6.9KFY2023
42.1KFY2024

Top industries (NAICS)

Scientific research and development services · 5417$36.9K100%

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 St. James, Missouri, so they do not add up across cities.

St. James, Missouri's figures are part of those of Phelps County, MO ($12.1M in FY2026), never added to them: 0.3% of that total.

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

See federal money in Phelps 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.

St. James, 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.

Phelps County49100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Rolla, MO48

Other cities and towns in Phelps 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/2964424

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends