Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 8,404, settled in 1855. 91% more nonprofits per person than the typical Missouri town.
Nevada grades D overall, 217th of 247 graded towns in Missouri, mostly because of safety and incomes. It reports more crime per resident than 95% of U.S. towns, including 30 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. The median household income is $43K, and 28% of residents live below the poverty line. What it does well: it is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns. 28% of residents live below the poverty line in Nevada, where Missouri’s towns sit at 14% and U.S. towns at 9.6%. Nevada is home to Cottey College. Nevada's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) is stronger than in 90% of U.S. towns.
Where Nevada beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Where Nevada’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Missouri), ordered by how far Nevada is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,913 in 1880, 8,212 in 2020. The archive holds 3 old photos and papers going back to 1880 and 3 maps from 1933 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Nevada, 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 Nevada.
Nevada draws workers from Center Township and beyond and is healthier than towns with similar incomes, but it has poverty well above the Missouri rate.
Property crime runs at 34.5 per 1,000 residents, about twice the Missouri rate, most of it theft. Reported crimes fell from 491 to 317 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Nevada’s property crime rate is 34.5 per 1,000 residents. Nevada reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 95% report less. Nevada’s violent crime rate is 3.6 per 1,000 residents.
| Nevada | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 34.5 per 1,000 residents | 12.4 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 3.6 per 1,000 residents | 2.2 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
5,122 jobs are based in Nevada, 1.6 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. The average commute takes 14 minutes, against 23.5 across Missouri.
42% of Nevada’s working residents work right in town. The average trip to work in Nevada is 14 minutes. Since 2013, Nevada has lost 507 jobs, to 5,122 in 2023.
| Nevada | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 42% | 13% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 14 minutes | 22 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $43,000 | $62,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 8.6% | 9% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Against the 3,288 U.S. towns with household incomes like Nevada’s, it is healthier than 50%, so its D isn’t only a matter of income.
Nevada beats the Missouri average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 12. 17% of adults report frequent physical distress in Nevada.
| Nevada | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 15% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 34% | 30% | 25% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 17% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 19% | 17% |
| What stands out | Nevada | MO |
|---|---|---|
| More adults with COPD | 10.9% | 8% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 17.6% | 13.7% |
| More adults without reliable transportation | 10.6% | 8.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Home values rose 59% in five years, to about $167K, against 26% across Missouri. The median property tax bill is $964, against $1,948 across Missouri, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
The typical Nevada home is worth about $167,000, up 7.4% in a year, 37% below the Missouri typical home. 53% of Nevada households own their home.
| Nevada | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 53% | 64% | 73% |
| Median rent | $720 a month | $972 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
3.4 miles of trail in 6 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Twin Lakes Park, at 70 acres.
| Nevada | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 4.7% | 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. Walton Park | 1 mi | 39 |
| 2. Twin Lakes Park | — | 70 |
| 3. Marmaduke Park | — | 47 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Nevada has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 90°, January nights drop to 24° and about 6 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 53% of U.S. communities. Since 1993, 2 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Nevada.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
1 within 15 miles of the center of Nevada
About 6 of every 100 Nevada residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Missouri.
3 places in Nevada on the National Register of Historic Places.
10 notable people were born in Nevada.
City in Missouri, U.S.
Nevada ( niv-AY-də) is a city in and the county seat of Vernon County, Missouri, United States. The population was 8,212 at the 2020 census. The local government has a council-manager model.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Nevada.
| Town | MO rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nevada | #217 | D | B+ | D | C+ | D |
| Center Township | #173 | C− | B | — | C+ | D |
| Washington Township | — | — | A− | — | C+ | D |
Washington Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Center Township and Washington Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Nevada with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Nevada grades D overall, better than 10% of U.S. towns and #217 of 247 in Missouri. It grades D for health, D for safety and C+ for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a D.
Not for the area. That is 3.2 years of the area's median household income ($52,230 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+.
10 notable people were born here, including John Huston and Eva Bowring.
