Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Ava gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $229K for a typical one, or 5 years of the county’s $46K median household income. It grades C+ overall, 139th among Missouri's 247 graded towns. The low prices come with trade-offs. The median household income is $42K, and 22% of residents live below the poverty line, and CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 86% of the country. 34% of working residents work locally in Ava, where Missouri’s towns sit at 13% and U.S. towns at 8%. Only 21 of Missouri’s 213 towns score higher on safety. Ava Ranger Station Historic District is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Where Ava beats most towns.
Where Ava’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Missouri), ordered by how far Ava is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 134 in 1880, 2,894 in 2020. The archive holds 3 old photos and papers going back to 2004 and 2 maps from 1942 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Ava, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Ava.
Ava trades lower home prices for longer drives to work and draws workers from Springfield and beyond, but it is a long drive from an emergency room.
1,928 jobs are based in Ava, 2.1 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. Jobs based here grew from 1,446 in 2013 to 1,928.
The average commute for Ava comes to 19 minutes. About one worker in three stays in Ava for work. Jobs in Ava grew by 482 from 2013 to 2023, reaching 1,928. The top destinations are Springfield (12%), Mansfield (4%) and Lebanon (3%).
| Ava | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $43,000 | $62,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 19 minutes | 22 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Of its 3 schools, two are listed below, each with the reason. The largest public high school is Ava High, with 391 students. The Ava R-I school district runs its public schools.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ava Elem.Largest public elementary schoolGrades PK–4 | Grades PK–4 | 553 | B |
| Ava HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 391 | B |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MO on state tests and graduation
The nearest emergency room, Mercy Hospital Springfield, is 36.7 miles away in a straight line. Against the 3,187 U.S. towns with household incomes like Ava’s, it is healthier than 53%, so that grade isn’t only a matter of income.
For adults in Ava, the share who say their health is fair or poor is 26%. Two figures for adults here: 35% get no exercise outside work, 41% have high blood pressure.
| Ava | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 15% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 35% | 30% | 25% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 37% | 35% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 22% | 19% |
| What stands out | Ava | MO |
|---|---|---|
| More adults with COPD | 11.6% | 8% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 22.1% | 15.8% |
| More adults with heart disease | 9.4% | 6.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
At 11 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 91% of Missouri’s graded towns. Reported crimes fell from 43 to 18 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Ava’s property crime rate comes in at 4 per 1,000 residents. In Ava, the level of violent crime is 1.5 per 1,000 residents.
| Ava | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 4 per 1,000 residents | 12.5 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.5 per 1,000 residents | 2.3 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
July afternoons reach 88°, January nights drop to 24° and about 8 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Homes are within reach (about $229K for the typical one, B for cost of living), but half of working residents commute more than 25 miles. Home values rose 46% in five years, to about $229K, against 26% across Missouri.
Ava: 55% of households own their home. In the year to September 2026, typical home values climbed 7.2%. For Ava, the going rate for rent is $696 a month.
| Ava | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 55% | 64% | 73% |
| Median rent | $696 a month | $972 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
The biggest park or preserve is Ava City Park, at 21 acres.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Ava City Park | — | 21 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
29% of Ava’s expected losses from natural hazards come from inland flooding, followed by tornadoes at 15%. Expected damage from storms and floods is lower here than in just over half of U.S. communities. Households here have drawn federal disaster aid in 6 declared disasters, most recently in 2017.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
None within 15 miles of Ava; the nearest are
About 1 of every 100 Ava residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Missouri.
City in Missouri, U.S.
Ava is a city in and the county seat of Douglas County, Missouri, United States, that is the only incorporated city in the county. The population was 2,894 at the 2020 census. The city was founded in 1871. It was renamed Ava in 1881, the town's original name having been Militia Springs.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Ava grades C+ overall, better than 37% of U.S. towns and #139 of 247 in Missouri. It grades D for health, B+ for safety and B+ for schools. Jobs & income is its weak spot, with a D.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B.
2 notable people were born here, including Pat Schneider and Bob Holt.