Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The best of New Franklin’s subject grades are an A+ for cost of living and an A− for civic life and history; the weakest is a C− for incomes. New Franklin has 3 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Harris-Chilton-Ruble House and Greenwood. New Franklin has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where New Franklin beats most towns.
Harris-Chilton-Ruble HouseIn a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Missouri), ordered by how far New Franklin is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 227 in 1870, a low of 132 in 1890, 1,027 in 2020. The archive holds 17 old photos and papers going back to 2004 and 4 maps from 1890 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in New Franklin, 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 New Franklin.
Its two schools are below. 2 public schools serve New Franklin, with 392 students in all.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Franklin ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 194 | B+ |
| New Franklin Middle-HighLargest public high schoolGrades 6–12 | Grades 6–12 | 198 | B− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MO on state tests and graduation
16% of residents live below the poverty line in New Franklin, above both the Missouri town median (14%) and the median of U.S. towns (9.6%). Most working residents leave New Franklin for work: only 5% work in town. The town’s average commute stands at 31 minutes. For half of commuters, work is under 23 miles away.
| New Franklin | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 31 minutes | 22 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 16% | 14% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $55,000 | $62,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 5.5% | 13% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The rent at the middle of the market for New Franklin comes to $679 a month. Values rose 1.4% in the 12 months to September 2026. The share of households in New Franklin who own their home: 68%.
| New Franklin | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $679 a month | $971 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 68% | 64% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Flood insurance has paid out on 17 claims in New Franklin since 1983. Expected damage from storms and floods is higher here than in 71% of U.S. communities. 58% of the town’s expected losses from natural hazards come from inland flooding, followed by tornadoes at 14%. Federal aid has come to New Franklin households in 5 declared disasters; the latest was in 2019.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Summer afternoons peak near 88° in July, and January nights bottom out around 20°; snowfall runs to about 10 inches a winter. The seasons in New Franklin: chilly winters, warm summers.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Among adults in New Franklin, 11% worry about having enough food. The town does better than the Missouri average on 2 of 32 CDC measures and worse on 1. Also worth knowing: 38% of adults have high blood pressure here, against 37% in Missouri’s towns and 35% across U.S. towns.
| New Franklin | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 32% | 33% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 19% | 17% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 38% | 37% | 35% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 80% | 78% | 79% |
| What stands out | New Franklin | MO |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 7.1% | 9% |
| Fewer adults without reliable transportation | 6.8% | 8.4% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.4% | 8.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
2 within 15 miles of the center of New Franklin
About 5 of every 100 New Franklin residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Missouri.
Where New Franklin’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
3 places in New Franklin on the National Register of Historic Places.
City in Missouri, United States
New Franklin is a city in Howard County, Missouri, United States. The population was 1,027 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Columbia, Missouri Metropolitan Statistical Area. The community is 0.25 miles (0.40 km) northeast of and uphill from Franklin, a flood-prone historic community which was the eastern terminus of the Santa Fe Trail.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
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+.
2 notable people were born here, including William H. Workman and Charles Wright.
