Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 4,770, settled in 1869.
Higginsville gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $226K, 2.7 years of the Kansas City metro’s $83K median household income. It grades A− overall, 30th among Missouri's 247 graded towns. On the plus side, it reports less crime per resident than 75% of U.S. towns. 13% of residents are under 18 in Higginsville, where Missouri’s towns sit at 23% and U.S. towns at 22%. On hazard risk, just 6 of Missouri’s 419 towns do better. Higginsville has 4 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Houx-Hoefer-Rehkop House and Douglass School.
Where Higginsville beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Missouri), ordered by how far Higginsville is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 797 in 1880, 4,817 in 2020. The archive holds 3 old photos and papers going back to 2006 and 4 maps from 1889 on.
4 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Higginsville, 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 Higginsville.
Higginsville pairs an A− overall with homes cheaper than the Missouri norm, carries less natural-hazard risk than nearly all of Missouri (mostly cold waves) and fares better on crime within Missouri than nationally.
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk lower than 99% of Missouri towns, with expected losses of about $316 per resident a year; that rating is what its A− for hazard risk is built on.
One flood insurance claim has been paid in Higginsville since 1979. FEMA puts 44% of the town’s expected hazard losses down to cold waves, and 21% to inland flooding.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Two of its 6 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed. Its public schools are run by the Lafayette Co. C-1 school district.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grandview Elem.Largest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 440 | C− |
| Lafayette Co. HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 298 | B+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MO on state tests and graduation
At 9.9 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 92% of Missouri’s graded towns. Violent crime is rare: 1 reported in 2025, 0.2 per 1,000 residents.
The property offense rate in Higginsville is 8.2 per 1,000 residents.
| Higginsville | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.2 per 1,000 residents | 2.3 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 8.2 per 1,000 residents | 12.5 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Higginsville: a quarter of residents are 65 or older. 30% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 32% across Missouri. The median age for Higginsville comes to 44.6 years.
| Higginsville | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 25% | 17% | 18% |
| Median age | 44.6 years | 38.5 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 30% | 22% | 29% |
50% women, 50% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±4.1 points. Across Missouri, 50.7% of residents are women.
| Higginsville | MO | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 4.4% | 11.9% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 8.2% | 10.4% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 6.8% | 9.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 18.7% | 13.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.6% | 12.8% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 10.2% | 11.6% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 14% | 13% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 14.5% | 10.6% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 10.8% | 7.3% | 7% |
| No diploma | 12% | 8.1% | 10.4% |
| High school | 35.1% | 30.2% | 26% |
| Some college | 14.8% | 20.8% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 8.2% | 8.4% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 18.9% | 19.8% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 11% | 12.6% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 4,800, single groups can be off by several points
July afternoons reach 88°, January nights drop to 20° and about 14 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Higginsville has about as many jobs (1,847) as working residents, but only 382 people both live and work here.
Higginsville had 1,847 jobs in 2023, down 389 from 2013. For Higginsville, the mean commuting time is 20 minutes. The top destinations are Kansas City (12%), Lexington (7%) and Concordia (4%). 6.8% of residents live below the poverty line locally.
| Higginsville | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 20% | 13% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 6.8% | 14% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 20 minutes | 22 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $81,000 | $62,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Higginsville grades A− overall with a typical home of about $226K, below the Missouri typical value; only 11 of the 55 Missouri towns graded A− or better can say that. Homes are within reach (about $226K for the typical one, A for cost of living), but half of working residents commute more than 23 miles.
The typical Higginsville home is worth about $226,000, up 5.9% in a year, 15% below the Missouri typical home. Homes sold in Higginsville spent a median 70 days on the market. The town’s rent at the middle of the market is $980 a month.
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
The biggest park or preserve is Confederate Memorial State Historic Site, at 115 acres. 0.6 miles of trail in 4 parks and preserves. Higginsville’s trail network density stands at 0.2 miles per square mile.
| Higginsville | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 7.2% | 2.1% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Confederate Memorial State Historic Site | 0.1 mi | 115 |
| 2. Fairground Park | 0.1 mi | 40 |
| 3. McCord's Park | — | 5 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The share of adults in Higginsville who smoke cigarettes: 15%. Among adults locally, 40% sleep under 7 hours and 11% worry about having enough food.
| Higginsville | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 32% | 33% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 38% | 36% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 15% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 30% | 25% |
| What stands out | Higginsville | MO |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 12.2% | 15.8% |
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 7.2% | 9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
None within 15 miles of Higginsville; the nearest are
About 3 of every 100 Higginsville residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Missouri.
4 places in Higginsville on the National Register of Historic Places.
4 notable people were born in Higginsville.
City in Lafayette County, Missouri, United States
Higginsville is a city in Lafayette County, Missouri, United States. The population was 4,817 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Higginsville grades A− overall, better than 85% of U.S. towns and #30 of 247 in Missouri. It grades B− for health, A− for safety and C+ for schools.
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.
4 notable people were born here, including William J. Cason and Skip Thomas.
