Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Residents are less healthy than 97% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. Overall it grades C, ranked 155th of 247 in Missouri. Its weakest subject is incomes: the median household income is $37K, and 18% of residents live below the poverty line. Mountain Grove has 3 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Mountain Grove Bandstand and Mountain Grove City Hall. Among 247 Missouri towns, just 9 have a lower average trip to work than Mountain Grove. Mountain Grove is more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns.
Where Mountain Grove beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Missouri), ordered by how far Mountain Grove is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 92 in 1880, 4,313 in 2020. The archive holds 25 old photos and papers going back to 1916 and 2 maps from 1951 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Mountain Grove, 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 Mountain Grove.
Mountain Grove fares better on crime within Missouri than nationally, but it is a long drive from an emergency room and has household incomes well below the Missouri norm.
The nearest emergency room, Texas County Memorial Hospital, is 21.1 miles away in a straight line. Against the 1,713 U.S. towns with household incomes like Mountain Grove’s, it is less healthy than 76%, so its D− isn’t only a matter of income.
20% of adults report frequent physical distress in Mountain Grove, where Missouri’s towns sit at 15% and U.S. towns at 14%. 40% of adults get no exercise outside work in Mountain Grove. Mountain Grove beats the Missouri average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 18.
| Mountain Grove | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 15% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 30% | 25% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 23% | 17% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 22% | 19% |
| What stands out | Mountain Grove | MO |
|---|---|---|
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 80.2% | 77.2% |
| More adults with COPD | 13.6% | 8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its public schools are run by Mountain Grove R-III. Two of its 7 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Mountain Grove High, with 455 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mountain Grove Elem.Largest public elementary schoolGrades PK–4 | Grades PK–4 | 658 | A− |
| Mountain Grove HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 455 | B+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MO on state tests and graduation
The median property tax bill is $438, against $1,948 across Missouri, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
The typical Mountain Grove home is worth about $203,000, up 3.2% in a year, 23% below the Missouri typical home. At $839 a month, Mountain Grove’s median rent is near the Missouri town median ($972 a month) and below the median of U.S. towns ($1,185 a month). 75% of Mountain Grove households own their home.
| Mountain Grove | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 75% | 64% | 73% |
| Median rent | $839 a month | $972 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Mountain Grove has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 87°, January nights drop to 23° and about 10 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The average commute for its 1,485 working residents takes 14 minutes, against 23.5 across Missouri.
About one in 4 of Mountain Grove’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Springfield (11%), Cabool (7%) and Mansfield (6%). Half commute less than 25 miles.
| Mountain Grove | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 24% | 13% | 8% |
| Median household income | $37,000 | $62,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
At 20.3 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 58% of Missouri’s graded towns.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
0.1 miles of trail in 4 parks and preserves.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Veterans Memorial Park | — | 7 |
| 2. Alumni Memorial Park | — | 1 |
| 3. Ina Crandall Children's Park | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 52% of U.S. communities. Since 2013, 4 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Mountain Grove.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
None within 15 miles of Mountain Grove; the nearest are
About 2 of every 100 Mountain Grove residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Missouri.
7 notable people were born in Mountain Grove.
City in Wright and Texas counties in Missouri, United States
Mountain Grove is a city in Wright County and Texas County in Missouri, United States. It lies within the Ozarks in the south-central part of the state. The population was 4,313 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Mountain Grove.
| Town | MO rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mountain Grove | #155 | C | B | B− | B+ | D− |
| Clinton Township | — | — | B+ | — | B− | D |
Clinton Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Clinton Township reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Mountain Grove with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Mountain Grove grades C overall, better than 31% of U.S. towns and #155 of 247 in Missouri. It grades D− for health, B− for safety and B+ for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a D−.
That is 4.2 years of the area's median household income ($47,909 across the county). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B.
7 notable people were born here, including Brad Daugherty and Don Warden.
