Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Hamilton’s best subject grade is an A+ for cost of living; its weakest is a C for health. Only 23 of Missouri’s 419 towns score higher on cost of living. Hamilton has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Hamilton beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Missouri), ordered by how far Hamilton is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 975 in 1870, 1,690 in 2020. The archive holds 9 old photos and papers going back to 2007 and a map from 1984 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Hamilton, 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 Hamilton.
Hamilton beats the Missouri average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 2. 31% of adults get no exercise outside work in Hamilton, against 30% in Missouri’s towns and 25% across U.S. towns. 15% of Hamilton adults report frequent physical distress.
| Hamilton | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 30% | 25% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 15% | 14% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 38% | 37% | 35% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 17% | 14% |
| What stands out | Hamilton | MO |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 21% | 15.8% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.2% | 8.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Hamilton has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 87°, January nights drop to 18° and about 8 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Most working residents leave Hamilton for work: only 18% work in town. 6% of residents live below the poverty line in Hamilton, below both the Missouri town median (14%) and the median of U.S. towns (9.6%). Since 2013, Hamilton has added 484 jobs, to 877 in 2023.
| Hamilton | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 6% | 14% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 18% | 13% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 24 minutes | 22 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $65,000 | $62,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 60% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The typical Hamilton home is worth about $237,000, up 2.2% in a year, 11% below the Missouri typical home. 16% of renter households spend 30% or more of their income on rent in Hamilton.
| Hamilton | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 16% | 43% | 48% |
| Median rent | $685 a month | $971 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 58% | 64% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the Missouri average. The median age in Hamilton is 36.1 years. Hamilton has grown 2.2% since 2020, to 1,726 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| Hamilton | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 26% | 23% | 22% |
| Median age | 36.1 years | 38.5 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 28% | 22% | 29% |
53% women, 47% men
About 89 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±2 points). Across Missouri, 50.7% of residents are women.
| Hamilton | MO | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 15.6% | 11.9% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 10.5% | 10.4% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 5.8% | 9.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 15% | 13.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 15.4% | 12.8% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 11.3% | 11.6% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 8.9% | 13% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 10.1% | 10.6% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 7.4% | 7.3% | 7% |
| No diploma | 5.4% | 8.1% | 10.4% |
| High school | 36.6% | 30.2% | 26% |
| Some college | 22.6% | 20.8% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 7.2% | 8.4% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 18.2% | 19.8% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 10% | 12.6% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 1,700, single groups can be off by several points
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. J.C. Penney Boyhood Home | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
None within 15 miles of Hamilton; the nearest are
About 4 of every 100 Hamilton residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Missouri.
3 notable people were born in Hamilton.
City in Caldwell County, Missouri, United States
Hamilton is a city in northern Caldwell County, Missouri, United States. The population was 1,690 at the 2020 census. It is known as the hometown of James Cash Penney, who built a national apparel-related business, J. C. Penney. It is also the hometown of Jenny Doan, who developed the Missouri Star Quilt Company. The town is known for an annual quilt festival.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
3 notable people were born here, including Zack Wheat and James Cash Penney.
