Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Jefferson City gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $278K for a typical one, or 3.7 years of the Jefferson City metro’s $74K median household income. It grades B− overall, ranked 110th of 247 in Missouri. The low prices come with trade-offs. Its crime rate is higher than 77% of U.S. towns, with 146 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. 58% of working residents work locally in Jefferson City, above both Missouri’s towns (13%) and U.S. towns (8%). Its National Register listings include Jefferson Female Seminary and John M. and Lillian Sommerer House. Jefferson City's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) is stronger than in 85% of U.S. towns.
Where Jefferson City beats most towns.
Lohman's Landing Building
Its 48 National Register listings are more than in 97% of Missouri towns with a listing.
Census counts: 3,082 in 1860, 43,228 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1842 and 5 maps from 1939 on.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Missouri), ordered by how far Jefferson City is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Jefferson City, 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 Jefferson City.
Jefferson City draws workers from Columbia and beyond, is healthier than towns with similar incomes and fares better on crime within Missouri than nationally.
28 miles of trail in 25 parks and preserves. The trail density in Jefferson City is 0.7 miles per square mile. North Jefferson City Recreation Area, at 187 acres with 1.3 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
| Jefferson City | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.7 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 2.5% | 2.1% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Conservation Commission Headquarters | 1.6 mi | 44 |
| 2. Runge Conservation Nature Center | 1.5 mi | 83 |
| 3. North Jefferson City Recreation Area | 1.3 mi | 187 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Jefferson City school district. Three of its 26 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lewis and Clark MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 966 | C |
| Jefferson City HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,353 | A− |
| Capital City High SchoolTop results in townGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,314 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MO on state tests and graduation
50,863 jobs are based in Jefferson City, 2.7 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. The average commute takes 15.5 minutes, against 23.5 across Missouri.
Jefferson City’s average trip to work is 16 minutes. Since 2013, Jefferson City has added 6,471 jobs, to 50,863 in 2023. The top destinations are Columbia (9%), Fulton (2%) and Kansas City (1%).
| Jefferson City | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 16 minutes | 22 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 12% | 14% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $66,000 | $62,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 10% | 9% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
At 32.8 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 65% of Missouri’s graded towns.
Jefferson City reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 77% report less.
| Jefferson City | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 3.4 per 1,000 residents | 2.2 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 17.9 per 1,000 residents | 12.4 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Jefferson City has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 89°, January nights drop to 22° and about 9 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the Missouri average. 39% of Jefferson City adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more.
| Jefferson City | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 39% | 22% | 29% |
| Under 18 | 20% | 23% | 22% |
48.9% women, 51.1% men
About 105 men for every 100 women. Across Missouri, 50.7% of residents are women. Median age: women 40.4, men 37.8.
| Jefferson City | MO | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 10.5% | 11.9% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 9.4% | 10.4% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 10.6% | 9.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 14.1% | 13.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 14.9% | 12.8% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 11.4% | 11.6% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 11.6% | 13% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 9.7% | 10.6% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 7.8% | 7.3% | 7% |
| No diploma | 7.2% | 8.1% | 10.4% |
| High school | 29.1% | 30.2% | 26% |
| Some college | 16.9% | 20.8% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 8.1% | 8.4% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 23.5% | 19.8% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 15.2% | 12.6% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
288 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 30 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 57% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 288 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Jefferson City.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Against the 10,132 U.S. towns with household incomes like Jefferson City’s, it is healthier than 73%, so its B− isn’t only a matter of income.
Jefferson City beats the Missouri average on 2 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 0. 18% of adults binge drink in Jefferson City.
| Jefferson City | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 16% | 16% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 19% | 17% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 30% | 25% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 17% | 14% |
| What stands out | Jefferson City | MO |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 11% | 15.8% |
| Fewer adults with COPD | 7% | 8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Home values rose 42% in five years, to about $278K, against 26% across Missouri.
Typical home values rose 7.3% in the year to September 2026.
| Jefferson City | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 59% | 64% | 73% |
| Median rent | $802 a month | $972 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 40% | 43% | 48% |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
1 within 15 miles of the center of Jefferson City
About 6 of every 100 Jefferson City residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Missouri.
48 places in Jefferson City on the National Register of Historic Places.
Capital city of Missouri, U.S.
Jefferson City, officially City of Jefferson and informally Jeff City, is the capital of the U.S. state of Missouri. It had a population of 43,228 at the 2020 United States census, ranking as the 16th most populous city in the state, but the 9th least populous U.S. state capital. It is also the county seat of Cole County and the principal city of the Jefferson City Metropolitan Statistical Area, the second-most-populous metropolitan area in Mid-Missouri and the fifth-most populous in the state. It forms part of the nine-county Columbia–Jefferson City–Moberly combined statistical area, which has 415,747 residents. Most of the city is located within Cole County, with a small northern section …
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Jefferson City.
| Town | MO rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jefferson City | #110 | B− | A− | C− | B− | B− |
| Taos | — | — | A | — | B | B− |
Taos has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Taos reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Jefferson City with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Jefferson City grades B− overall, better than 51% of U.S. towns and #110 of 247 in Missouri. It grades B− 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−.
