City · Warren County, Missouri

Wright City, Missouri

Wright City is a city in Warren County, Missouri, part of the St. Louis, MO-IL metro area. It has 5,240 residents. Wright City, Missouri has a quality-of-life score of 42 out of 100 (moderate), ranking #9,003 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Missouri it ranks #178 of 375 cities and towns. It ranks best on job growth (high), income inequality (Gini index) (low) and new homes permitted (high). It ranks worst on arts, entertainment and recreation (low), dentists (low) and gyms and fitness centers (low).

42Moderate

Quality-of-life score: #9,003 of 15,651 cities and towns
Missouri: #178 of 375 in MO
Population: 5,240 (2020-2024)
Land area: 6 mi²
Density: 864.5 /mi²
FIPS code: 2981124

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.

Safety63#5,769/15,637
Economy71#4,561/15,631
Housing92#1,165/14,977
Health23#11,983/15,609
Healthcare8#14,433/15,650
Environment40#9,217/15,453
Education49#7,952/15,649
Infrastructure22#12,134/15,650
Community68#5,000/15,651
Leisure & amenities14#13,436/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Wright City, Missouri ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Warren 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 · high10.2%
100/100Missouri 0.1%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataWarren County value
Income inequality (Gini index) · low0.323
98/100Missouri 0.465United States 0.4832020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B19083
New homes permitted · high15.3 /1k
93/100Missouri 3.0 /1kUnited States 4.2 /1kSep 2025–Aug 2026U.S. Census BureauProvisional data
Property crime rate · low492 /100k
90/100Missouri 1,644 /100kUnited States 1,535 /100k2024Federal Bureau of InvestigationWarren County value
Rent-burdened households · low37.1%
84/100Missouri 45.6%United States 51.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25070
Violent crime rate · low116 /100k
81/100Missouri 418 /100kUnited States 328 /100k2024Federal Bureau of InvestigationWarren County value

Weaknesses

Arts, entertainment and recreation · low1.5 /10k
6/100Missouri 4.6 /10kUnited States 5.5 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsWarren County value
Dentists · low27 /100k
8/100Missouri 64 /100kUnited States 75 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteWarren County value
Gyms and fitness centers · low0.3 /10k
10/100Missouri 1.2 /10kUnited States 1.3 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsWarren County value
Mental health providers · low70 /100k
10/100Missouri 278 /100kUnited States 348 /100k2025University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteWarren County value
Primary care physicians · low27 /100k
10/100Missouri 72 /100kUnited States 76 /100k2022University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteWarren County value
Distance to an emergency room · high13.2 mi
10/100Missouri 6.6 miUnited States 5.5 miJul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesWarren County value

Trends

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

PopulationRising
3,810 (2015-2019) → 5,240 (2020-2024)
+38%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Child poverty rateImproving
33.1% (2015-2019) → 6.3% (2020-2024)
−27 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Poverty rateImproving
17.2% (2015-2019) → 5.8% (2020-2024)
−11 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%
Rent as share of incomeImproving
28.3% (2015-2019) → 18.4% (2020-2024)
−9.9 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
79.5% (2015-2019) → 86.9% (2020-2024)
+7.4 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Median household incomeImproving
$61,574 (2015-2019) → $80,152 (2020-2024)
+30%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604

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, Wright City, Missouri improved on 1 of 11 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 10 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

Poverty−11 points17.2% → 5.8%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 11 measures

Change of every measure of Wright City, Missouri between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	25.9 min2015-2019	27.5 min2020-2024	+1.6 min	Within the margin of error	31%
Bachelor's degree or higher	16.4%2015-2019	19.7%2020-2024	+3.3 points	Within the margin of error	54%
Broadband subscriptions	79.5%2015-2019	86.9%2020-2024	+7.4 points	Within the margin of error	46%
Effective property tax rate	1.14%2015-2019	0.83%2020-2024	−0.3 points	Within the margin of error	75%
High school diploma or higher	85.8%2015-2019	80.8%2020-2024	−4.9 points	Within the margin of error	6%
Home price to income ratio	2.4×2015-2019	3.0×2020-2024	+0.6×	Within the margin of error	43%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.3052015-2019	0.3232020-2024	+0.018	Within the margin of error	35%
Median household income	$61,5742015-2019	$80,1522020-2024	+30%	Within the margin of error	56%
Poverty rate	17.2%2015-2019	5.8%2020-2024	−11 points	Improved	95%
Rent-burdened households	42.4%2015-2019	37.1%2020-2024	−5.3 points	Within the margin of error	73%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	8.9%2015-2019	7.5%2020-2024	−1.4 points	Within the margin of error	64%

“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 Wright City, Missouri five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Wright 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, Wright City, Missouri itself moved −2.5 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

5,240 residents (±18)

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

1,783 households (±155)

Wright City, Missouri
Missouri share

Under $25k6.5%†115
$25k–50k14%†256
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

1,783 households (±155)

Wright City, Missouri
Missouri share

Own82%1,465
Rent18%†318

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Own (+21.8 points).

† 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

2,578 workers (±254)

Wright City, Missouri
Missouri share

Drive alone73%1,877
Carpool16%†415
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 St. Louis, MO-IL

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 Warren County, the county holding most of Wright City's residents.

Warren County has 654 employer establishments, 173 for every 10,000 residents (0.70× the US rate of 248; 0.71× Missouri's), with 6,953 paid employees at an average annual pay of $48,293. The Census Bureau also counts 2,831 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 654; 2,831 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 173; US 248 · Missouri 244
Paid employees: 6,953
Average annual pay: $48,293; US $68,342

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

Specialty trade contractors	85	22.5	1.45×More than typical	492	$63,860	288
Construction of buildings	50	13.2	1.75×More than typical	264	$49,318	122
Restaurants and other eating places	36	9.5	0.52×Fewer than typical	625	$19,130	9
Ambulatory health care services	35	9.2	0.44×Fewer than typical	195	$65,410	71
Services to buildings and dwellings	28	7.4	1.10×About typical	91	$48,077	214
Building equipment contractors	26	6.9	1.14×About typical	179	$66,341	38
Religious organizations	25	6.6	1.19×About typical	408	$29,789	—
Lessors of real estate	24	6.3	0.51×Fewer than typical	65	$27,077	296
Other specialty trade contractors	23	6.1	2.42×More than typical	148	$60,568	103
Foundation, structure and building exterior contractors	20	5.3	1.68×More than typical	81	$65,630	55
Insurance agencies and brokerages	18	4.8	1.08×About typical	41	$57,390	42
Landscaping services	18	4.8	1.36×More than typical	73	$49,397	71

Rank places for an industry Open Warren County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 37,842 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 $564 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Wright City, Missouri: $0.11 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $564; +78% vs FY2025
Per resident: $0.11; US $1,994
Sole-source: 100%; 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$564100%

Top recipients

AVION MANUFACTURING, INC.$564100%

Spending by fiscal year

36KFY2017
19.9KFY2018
199.7KFY2019
29.5KFY2020
6.5KFY2021
124.6KFY2022
160.7KFY2024
317.3FY2025

Top industries (NAICS)

Business schools and computer and management training · 6114$564100%

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

Wright City, Missouri's figures are part of those of Warren County, MO ($6,473 in FY2026), never added to them: 8.7% of that total.

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

See federal money in Warren 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.

Wright City, Missouri is split between congressional districts: each representative is shown with the share of its residents in their district (current boundaries).

House

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.

Warren County55100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

St. Louis, MO-IL72

Other cities and towns in Warren 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/2981124

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends