Scores by category

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

Safety55#7,093/15,637
Economy25#11,776/15,631
Housing88#1,829/14,977
Health35#10,098/15,609
Healthcare30#11,033/15,650
Environment92#1,302/15,453
Education60#6,202/15,649
Infrastructure36#10,017/15,650
Community23#12,059/15,651
Leisure & amenities7#14,624/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Dentists · high132 /100k
99/100Missouri 64 /100kUnited States 75 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstitutePulaski County value
New homes permitted · high10.7 /1k
89/100Missouri 3.0 /1kUnited States 4.2 /1kSep 2025–Aug 2026U.S. Census BureauProvisional data
Income inequality (Gini index) · low0.357
88/100Missouri 0.465United States 0.4832020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B19083
Average commute time · low19.1 min
87/100Missouri 23.5 minUnited States 26.4 min2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08013
Uninsured residents (under 65) · low2.5%
86/100Missouri 9.2%United States 9.8%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B27010High uncertainty
Drinking water violations · low0
86/100Missouri 0United States 02024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstitutePulaski County value

Weaknesses

Flu vaccinations · low20.0%
1/100Missouri 44.0%United States 44.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstitutePulaski County value
Job growth · low-5.6%
1/100Missouri 0.1%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataPulaski County value
Distance to an emergency room · high21.7 mi
2/100Missouri 6.6 miUnited States 5.5 miJul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesPulaski County value
Food environment index · low5.9
3/100Missouri 6.9United States 7.62019 & 2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstitutePulaski County value
Grocery stores · low0.7 /10k
5/100Missouri 1.5 /10kUnited States 1.7 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsPulaski County value
Mammography screening · low34.0%
6/100Missouri 49.0%United States 46.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstitutePulaski County value

Trends

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

New homes permittedImproving
2.8 /1k (2021) → 10.7 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
+279%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
47.9% (2015-2019) → 40.4% (2020-2024)
−7.5 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Uninsured residents (under 65)Improving
9.9% (2015-2019) → 2.5% (2020-2024)
−7.4 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 9.8%
Unemployment rateImproving
10.9% (2015-2019) → 5.1% (2020-2024)
−5.7 pts5 yearsCensus table B23025US 3.7% → 4.0%
Child poverty rateImproving
27.6% (2015-2019) → 23.3% (2020-2024)
−4.3 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Poverty rateImproving
19.6% (2015-2019) → 16.5% (2020-2024)
−3.1 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%

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, Waynesville, Missouri improved on 0 of 11 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 11 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.

Improved0

No measure improved by more than its margin of error.

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 11 measures

Change of every measure of Waynesville, Missouri between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	21.9 min2015-2019	19.1 min2020-2024	−2.7 min	Within the margin of error	77%
Bachelor's degree or higher	34.8%2015-2019	32.0%2020-2024	−2.8 points	Within the margin of error	13%
Broadband subscriptions	83.1%2015-2019	85.9%2020-2024	+2.8 points	Within the margin of error	19%
Effective property tax rate	0.66%2015-2019	0.72%2020-2024	+0.1 points	Within the margin of error	9%
High school diploma or higher	98.6%2015-2019	95.8%2020-2024	−2.8 points	Within the margin of error	11%
Home price to income ratio	3.1×2015-2019	3.5×2020-2024	+0.4×	Within the margin of error	52%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.3952015-2019	0.3572020-2024	−0.038	Within the margin of error	79%
Median household income	$60,6252015-2019	$56,8362020-2024	−6.2%	Within the margin of error	4%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	27.3%2015-2019	27.0%2020-2024	−0.3 points	Within the margin of error	58%
Rent-burdened households	47.9%2015-2019	40.4%2020-2024	−7.5 points	Within the margin of error	78%

“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 Waynesville, Missouri five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Waynesville, 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, Waynesville, Missouri itself moved −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

5,442 residents (±23)

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: 10–19 women (−8.0 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

5,442 residents (±23)

Waynesville, Missouri
Missouri share

White74%4,009
Black4.8%†259
Hispanic or Latino12%†678

Education

3,679 residents (±413)

Waynesville, Missouri
Missouri share

No high school diploma4.2%†156
High school or GED28%1,045
Some college21%†773

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

2,201 households (±321)

Waynesville, Missouri
Missouri share

Under $25k20%†441
$25k–50k25%†559
$50k–75k9.8%†216
$75k–100k13%†282
$100k–150k26%†576
$150k–200k4.4%†97
$200k or more1.4%†30

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 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

2,201 households (±321)

Waynesville, Missouri
Missouri share

Own63%1,384
Rent37%817

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Own (+16.2 points).

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B25003View table on data.census.gov

Rent paid

817 households (±241)

Waynesville, Missouri
Missouri share

Under $75026%†213
$750–1,00012%†97
$1,000–1,50029%†241

Home values

1,384 homes (±283)

Waynesville, Missouri
Missouri share

Under $150k30%†415
$150k–250k39%†544
$250k–400k28%†384

Age of homes

2,420 homes (±295)

Waynesville, Missouri
Missouri share

2010 or later14%†348
2000–200920%†495
1980–199924%†579

Size of homes

2,420 homes (±295)

Waynesville, Missouri
Missouri share

Studio0.0%0
1 bedroom3.6%†88
2 bedrooms22%†525

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

2,558 workers (±295)

Waynesville, Missouri
Missouri share

Drive alone79%2,025
Carpool12%†312
Public transit0.0%0
Walk1.6%†42
Bike0.0%0
Work from home7.0%†179
Other0.0%0

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

2,379 workers (±313)

Waynesville, Missouri
Missouri share

Under 15 min32%†761
15–29 min37%†885
30–44 min31%†

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

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 Fort Leonard Wood, 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 Pulaski County, the county holding most of Waynesville's residents.

Pulaski County has 653 employer establishments, 121 for every 10,000 residents (0.49× the US rate of 248; 0.50× Missouri's), with 8,340 paid employees at an average annual pay of $38,577. The Census Bureau also counts 2,653 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 653; 2,653 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 121; US 248 · Missouri 244
Paid employees: 8,340
Average annual pay: $38,577; US $68,342

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

Restaurants and other eating places	72	13.4	0.73×Fewer than typical	1,339	$19,191	12
Religious organizations	39	7.3	1.31×More than typical	182	$18,830	—
Full-service restaurants	35	6.5	0.85×About typical	539	$20,122	4
Lessors of real estate	32	6	0.48×Fewer than typical	118	$46,051	223
Specialty trade contractors	32	6	0.38×Fewer than typical	174	$44,615	232
Ambulatory health care services	30	5.6	0.27×Fewer than typical	234	$69,846	78
Limited-service restaurants	30	5.6	0.70×Fewer than typical	685	$17,803	5
Traveler accommodation	25	4.7	2.58×More than typical	414	$28,529	9
Gasoline stations	22	4.1	1.26×More than typical	233	$27,000	—
Banks and credit unions	19	3.5	1.09×About typical	249	$50,735	4
Automotive repair and maintenance	16	3	0.59×Fewer than typical	67	$47,582	47
Construction of buildings	15	2.8	0.37×Fewer than typical	58	$47,897	124

Rank places for an industry Open Pulaski County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 53,754 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 Waynesville, Missouri: $0 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $0; −100% vs FY2025
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

4.3KFY2017
6.2KFY2018
4KFY2019
5.9KFY2020
2.5KFY2021
7.4KFY2022
24.5KFY2023
11.4KFY2024
1.1KFY2025

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

Waynesville, Missouri's figures are part of those of Pulaski County, MO ($288.5M 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: Waynesville is mostly in Pulaski County.

See federal money in Pulaski 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.

Waynesville, 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.

Pulaski County46100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Fort Leonard Wood, MO45

Other cities and towns in Pulaski 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/2977992