Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Excelsior Springs gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $225K, 2.7 years of the Kansas City metro’s $83K median household income. It grades C+ overall, ranked 133rd of 247 in Missouri. The low prices come with trade-offs. It reports more crime per resident than 78% of U.S. towns, including 33 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. Its National Register listings include Hall of Waters and Elms Hotel. 18% of working residents work locally in Excelsior Springs, above both the Missouri town median (13%) and the median of U.S. towns (8%). The biggest park or preserve is Siloam Park, at 58 acres.
Where Excelsior Springs beats most towns.
Hall of Waters
Census counts: 2,034 in 1890, 10,553 in 2020. The archive holds 43 old photos and papers going back to 1880 and 3 maps from 1957 on.
10 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Missouri), ordered by how far Excelsior Springs is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Excelsior Springs, 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 Excelsior Springs.
Excelsior Springs trades lower home prices for longer drives to work and trades workers with Kansas City and other neighbors, but it has a long record of flood insurance claims.
7.4 miles of trail in 6 parks and preserves. Excelsior Springs’ trail density is 0.7 miles per square mile.
| Excelsior Springs | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.7 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 1.3% | 2.1% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Siloam Park | 0.6 mi | 58 |
| 2. Century Park | — | 17 |
| 3. Eddie Raper Park | — | 16 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Excelsior Springs 40 school district. Two of its 7 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Excelsior Springs High, with 764 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Excelsior Springs MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 540 | C− |
| Excelsior Springs HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 764 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MO on state tests and graduation
The property crime rate in Excelsior Springs is 17.2 per 1,000 residents. Excelsior Springs reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 78% report less. The violent crime rate in Excelsior Springs is 3.1 per 1,000 residents.
| Excelsior Springs | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 17.2 per 1,000 residents | 12.4 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 3.1 per 1,000 residents | 2.2 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Excelsior Springs tracks Missouri closely on all 32 CDC measures. 34% of Excelsior Springs adults sleep under 7 hours.
| Excelsior Springs | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 34% | 38% | 36% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 34% | 32% | 33% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 16% | 16% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 15% | 14% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
84 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 10 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 69% of U.S. communities. Since 1981, 84 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Excelsior Springs.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Excelsior Springs has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 87°, January nights drop to 19° and about 19 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Excelsior Springs has about as many jobs (4,353) as working residents, but only 884 people both live and work here.
15% of residents live below the poverty line in Excelsior Springs. The top destinations are Kansas City (23%), Liberty (10%) and Claycomo (4%).
| Excelsior Springs | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 15% | 14% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 7.8% | 9% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 22 minutes | 22 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $73,000 | $62,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Homes are within reach (about $225K for the typical one, A− for cost of living), but half of working residents commute more than 21 miles.
The typical Excelsior Springs home is worth about $225,000, up 1.4% in a year, 15% below the Missouri typical home.
| Excelsior Springs | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 68% | 64% | 73% |
| Median rent | $975 a month | $970 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Excelsior Springs. Close and well known come first.
Big draw24 mi Stadium & arenaArrowhead Stadium
18 mi Park & preserveSubTropolis
24 mi Stadium & arenaKauffman Stadium
17 mi Theme parkWorlds of Fun
23 mi Stadium & arenaCPKC Stadium
25 mi Stadium & arenaT-Mobile CenterArrowhead Stadium: Ichabod, CC BY-SA 3.0 · SubTropolis: ErgoSum88, Public domain · Kauffman Stadium: Mysteryman28, Public domain · Worlds of Fun: Tkexb173 at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · CPKC Stadium: elisfkc2, CC BY-SA 2.0 · T-Mobile Center: Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0
1 within 15 miles of the center of Excelsior Springs
About 3 of every 100 Excelsior Springs residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Missouri.
10 places in Excelsior Springs on the National Register of Historic Places.
8 notable people were born in Excelsior Springs.
City in Missouri, United States
Excelsior Springs is a city in Clay and Ray counties in the U.S. state of Missouri and part of the Kansas City metropolitan area. The population was 10,553 at the 2020 census. It is located approximately 30 miles (48 km) northeast of central Kansas City, Missouri.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Excelsior Springs.
| Town | MO rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Excelsior Springs | #133 | C+ | A− | C− | B | C |
| Prathersville | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Mosby | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Prathersville and Mosby aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Excelsior Springs with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Excelsior Springs grades C+ overall, better than 40% of U.S. towns and #133 of 247 in Missouri. It grades C for health, C− for safety and B for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a C−.
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades A−.
8 notable people were born here, including Donald Judd and Brenda Joyce.
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