Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 8,753. More miles of trail than almost any town in Missouri.
Trash day: look up yoursPark Hills gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $155K for a typical one, or 2.7 years of the Farmington area’s $57K median household income. It grades C overall, 145th among Missouri's 247 graded towns. The low prices come with trade-offs. FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 63% of U.S. communities, with inland flooding at the top, and CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 80% of the country. On the plus side, it has 67 miles of trail and 63% conserved land. 63% of the land in Park Hills is conserved, above both the Missouri town median (2.1%) and the median of U.S. towns (4.3%). St. Joe State Park, at 8,445 acres with 65.8 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. Park Hills has 2 places on the National Register.
Where Park Hills beats most towns.
63% of the town is conserved land, across 3 parks and preserves.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Missouri), ordered by how far Park Hills is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 7,861 in 2000, 8,587 in 2020. The archive holds 4 old photos and papers going back to 2026 and 3 maps from 1905 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Explore the history →Who provides power, water and the rest in Park Hills, 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 Park Hills.
Park Hills keeps more of its land conserved than most of Missouri and is healthier than towns with similar incomes, but it has lost a quarter or more of its jobs in ten years.
Its 8,208 conserved acres are a larger share of the town than in any other Missouri town. Its A+ for the outdoors ranks #2 of 247 in Missouri.
More trails than any other town in Missouri.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. St. Joe State Park | 65.8 mi | 8,445 |
| 2. Columbia Park | 0.7 mi | 24 |
| 3. Quadrangle | 0.3 mi | 2 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The public schools here belong to Central R-III. The largest public high school is Central High, with 605 students. Below: Two of its 5 schools, each with why it was picked.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Central Elem.Largest public elementary schoolGrades PK–2 | Grades PK–2 | 530 | – |
| Central HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 605 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MO on state tests and graduation
The median property tax bill is $959, against $1,948 across Missouri, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
The typical home value in Park Hills is about $155,000, about the same as a year ago, 42% below the Missouri typical home. Park Hills’ going rate for rent stands at $790 a month, against $972 a month in Missouri’s towns and $1,185 a month across U.S. towns. 56% of Park Hills households are owner-occupiers.
| Park Hills | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 56% | 64% | 73% |
| Median rent | $790 a month | $972 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Against the 6,659 U.S. towns with household incomes like Park Hills’s, it is less healthy than 58%, so that grade isn’t only a matter of income.
For adults in Park Hills, the share who had a checkup this year is 76%. Against the Missouri average, Park Hills comes out ahead on 1 CDC measures out of 32, and behind on 6. Among adults in the town, 20% smoke cigarettes and 28% have been diagnosed with depression.
| Park Hills | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 19% | 17% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 17% | 14% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 25% | 23% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 38% | 36% |
| What stands out | Park Hills | MO |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 7.4% | 8.6% |
| More smokers | 19.9% | 16% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Expect July afternoons of 87° and January nights of 22°, with about 9 inches of snow a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Jobs based here fell from 3,679 in 2013 to 2,664.
Between 2013 and 2023, jobs in Park Hills dropped by 1,015, to 2,664. The average commute locally is 27 minutes. The top destinations are Farmington (23%), St. Louis (4%) and Bonne Terre (4%). In Park Hills, 14% of residents live below the poverty line.
| Park Hills | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 27 minutes | 22 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $53,000 | $62,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 14% | 14% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 13% | 13% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Since 1993, Park Hills has seen 18 flood insurance claims paid out. Just over a third of the town’s expected losses from natural hazards come from inland flooding, followed by earthquakes at 20%. Federal aid has come to Park Hills households in 7 declared disasters; the latest was in 2015.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Park Hills's reported crime rate is close to Missouri's. Most reported incidents are property crimes, mainly thefts. For Park Hills, the property offense rate is 20.7 per 1,000 residents. 13 violent crimes were reported in 2024.
| Park Hills | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2024) | 20.7 per 1,000 residents | 13.8 | 11.5 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2024) | 1.5 per 1,000 residents | 2.2 | 1.7 |
FBI crime data, 2024 · crimes reported to police
1 within 15 miles of the center of Park Hills
About 5 of every 100 Park Hills residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Missouri.
City in Missouri, United States
Park Hills is a city in St. Francois County, Missouri, United States. The population was 8,587 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Park Hills.
| Town | MO rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Park Hills | #145 | C | A− | — | B− | C− |
| Leadington | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Desloge | #197 | C− | A | C− | D | D |
Park Hills reports no FBI crime data of its own. Leadington isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Park Hills with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Park Hills grades C overall, better than 33% of U.S. towns and #145 of 247 in Missouri. It grades C− for health and B− for schools, and has the most trail per square mile in the state. Hazard risk 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−.
Park Hills has 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places. Its 67 miles of trails, 3.3 per square mile, are the densest network of any Missouri town.