Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Joplin grades D overall, 233rd of 247 graded towns in Missouri, mostly because of safety and health. Its crime rate is higher than 95% of U.S. towns, with 302 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. Residents are less healthy than 84% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. One bright spot: it is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns. 50% of working residents work locally in Joplin, above both the Missouri town median (13%) and the median of U.S. towns (8%). Its National Register listings include Joplin Union Depot and Joplin Carnegie Library. Only 8 of the 247 Missouri towns we compare have a higher July high than Joplin.
Where Joplin beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Joplin Carnegie Library
Census counts: 7,038 in 1880, 51,762 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1904 and 3 maps from 1962 on.
30 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Missouri), ordered by how far Joplin is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Joplin, 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 Joplin.
Joplin draws workers from Webb City and beyond and is healthier than towns with similar incomes, but it reports property crime at about twice the Missouri rate.
Property crime runs at 35.8 per 1,000 residents, about twice the Missouri rate, most of it theft. Reported crimes fell from 2,947 to 2,238 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Joplin’s property crime rate is 35.8 per 1,000 residents. Joplin reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 95% report less. Joplin’s violent crime rate is 5.6 per 1,000 residents.
| Joplin | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 35.8 per 1,000 residents | 12.4 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 5.6 per 1,000 residents | 2.2 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Its public schools are run by the Joplin Schools. Two of its 21 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| North MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 549 | C |
| Joplin HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 2,288 | B− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MO on state tests and graduation
39,694 jobs are based in Joplin, 1.9 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
The average trip to work in Joplin is 18 minutes. The top destinations are Springfield (5%), Carthage (4%) and Webb City (4%). 17% of Joplin residents live below the poverty line.
| Joplin | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 18 minutes | 22 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 17% | 14% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $52,000 | $62,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 10% | 9% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Against the 6,493 U.S. towns with household incomes like Joplin’s, it is less healthy than 65%, so its C− isn’t only a matter of income.
20% of adults report frequent mental distress in Joplin. Joplin beats the Missouri average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 12. 33% of adults get no exercise outside work in Joplin.
| Joplin | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 19% | 17% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 33% | 30% | 25% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 17% | 14% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 38% | 36% |
| What stands out | Joplin | MO |
|---|---|---|
| More adults without reliable transportation | 10.8% | 8.4% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 17.5% | 13.7% |
| More uninsured adults | 10.8% | 8.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
14 miles of trail in 15 parks and preserves. The biggest place to walk is Schifferdecker Park, 151 acres with 4.6 miles of trail.
| Joplin | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 2.7% | 2.1% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.4 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Schifferdecker Park | 4.6 mi | 151 |
| 2. Murphy Boulevard Park | 1.7 mi | 77 |
| 3. Wildcat Park | 1.3 mi | 91 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The typical Joplin home is worth about $207,000, up 2% in a year, 22% below the Missouri typical home.
| Joplin | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 53% | 64% | 73% |
| Median rent | $962 a month | $972 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 48% | 43% | 48% |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Joplin has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 90°, January nights drop to 25° and about 8 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 57% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 50 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Joplin.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the Missouri average. Joplin has grown 4.3% since 2020, to 53,930 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. 27% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 32% across Missouri.
| Joplin | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 21% | 23% | 22% |
| Aged 65 or older | 19% | 17% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 27% | 22% | 29% |
52% women, 48% men
About 94 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±1.1 points). Across Missouri, 50.7% of residents are women. Median age: women 40.1, men 37.2.
| Joplin | MO | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 11.8% | 11.9% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 9% | 10.4% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 10.7% | 9.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 14% | 13.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.7% | 12.8% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 10.9% | 11.6% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 11.4% | 13% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 11.4% | 10.6% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 8% | 7.3% | 7% |
| No diploma | 9% | 8.1% | 10.4% |
| High school | 32.4% | 30.2% | 26% |
| Some college | 25% | 20.8% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 6.9% | 8.4% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 18.3% | 19.8% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 8.3% | 12.6% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
2 within 15 miles of the center of Joplin
About 8 of every 100 Joplin residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Missouri.
2 colleges in town.
30 places in Joplin on the National Register of Historic Places.
37 notable people were born in Joplin.
City in Missouri, United States
Joplin is a city in Jasper and Newton counties in the U.S. state of Missouri. Most of the city lies in Jasper County, with the southern portion of Joplin extending into Newton County. With a population of 51,762 at the 2020 census, Joplin is the 12th most-populous city in the state. The city covers an area of 38.21 square miles (99.0 km2) on the outer edge of the Ozark Mountains in southwestern Missouri. Joplin is the principal city of the three-county Joplin metropolitan area, which is home to 210,077 people and is the fifth-largest metropolitan area in Missouri. In May 2011, a violent EF5 tornado killed more than 150 people and destroyed one-third of the city.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
9 towns share a border with Joplin.
| Town | MO rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joplin | #233 | D | B | D | C | C− |
| Leawood | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Duquesne | — | — | B | — | C | C |
| Webb City | #136 | C+ | B | C | A | C |
| Duenweg | — | — | B+ | — | C | C− |
| Grand Falls Plaza | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Redings Mill | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Loma Linda | — | — | B− | — | B+ | B− |
Duquesne, Duenweg and Loma Linda have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Duquesne, Duenweg and Loma Linda report no FBI crime data of their own. Leawood, Grand Falls Plaza and Redings Mill aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Joplin with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Joplin grades D overall, better than 7% of U.S. towns and #233 of 247 in Missouri. It grades C− for health, D for safety and C for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a D.
That is 3.3 years of the area's median household income ($61,901 across the Joplin, MO-KS metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B.
37 notable people were born here, including Langston Hughes and Robert Cummings.
