Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 2,568, settled in 1824. A regional job hub with 2,629 jobs.
Potosi gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $195K for a typical one, or 3.5 years of the county’s $56K median household income. It grades C− overall, ranked 190th of 247 in Missouri. The low prices come with trade-offs. Its police reported 16 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025, a higher rate per resident than 98% of U.S. towns, and residents are less healthy than 93% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. On the plus side, its schools outperform 90% of the state's. Potosi’s property crime rate is 34.9 per 1,000 residents, against 12.4 in Missouri’s towns and 9.9 across U.S. towns. Washington County Courthouse is on the National Register of Historic Places. Only 5 of the 247 Missouri towns we compare have a lower share of adults with a bachelor’s degree than Potosi.
Where Potosi beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Potosi Elem. | PK–3 | 683 |
| John A. Evans Middle | 7–8 | 316 |
| Potosi High | 9–12 | 673 |
Where Potosi’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 Potosi is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 548 in 1860, a low of 548 in 1860, 2,538 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1862 and 3 maps from 1906 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Potosi, 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 Potosi.
Potosi pairs an A for schools with modest home prices, trades lower home prices for longer drives to work and draws workers from Farmington and beyond.
Property crime runs at 34.9 per 1,000 residents, about twice the Missouri rate, most of it theft. Reported crimes fell from 272 to 105 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
The violent crime rate in Potosi is 6.3 per 1,000 residents. Potosi reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 98% report less.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Its A for schools comes with a B+ for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $195K.
Its public schools are run by Potosi R-III. Two of its 4 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Potosi High, with 673 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Potosi Elem.Largest public elementary schoolGrades PK–3 | Grades PK–3 | 683 | A− |
| Potosi HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 673 | B+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MO on state tests and graduation
2,629 jobs are based in Potosi, 3.1 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. The average commute takes 30.7 minutes, against 23.5 across Missouri.
25% of Potosi residents live below the poverty line. The top destinations are Farmington (8%), Columbia (3%) and Bonne Terre (2%). Potosi’s average trip to work is 31 minutes.
| Potosi | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 25% | 14% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 31 minutes | 22 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 22% | 13% | 8% |
| Median household income | $40,000 | $62,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Against the 2,350 U.S. towns with household incomes like Potosi’s, it is less healthy than 60%, so its D isn’t only a matter of income.
18% of adults report frequent physical distress in Potosi. Potosi beats the Missouri average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 14. 36% of adults get no exercise outside work in Potosi.
| Potosi | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 15% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 36% | 30% | 25% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 17% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 22% | 19% |
| What stands out | Potosi | MO |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 25.5% | 15.8% |
| More adults with COPD | 12.2% | 8% |
| More adults who have had a stroke | 4.9% | 3.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 74% of U.S. communities. Since 1985, 9 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Potosi.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Homes are within reach (about $195K for the typical one, B+ for cost of living), but half of working residents commute more than 23 miles. The median property tax bill is $577, against $1,948 across Missouri, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
Typical home values rose 5% in the year to September 2026.
| Potosi | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 50% | 64% | 73% |
| Median rent | $788 a month | $972 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Potosi has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 88°, January nights drop to 21° and about 12 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
| Potosi | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 0.5% | 2.1% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Benton Park | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
None within 15 miles of Potosi; the nearest are
About 5 of every 100 Potosi residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Missouri.
7 notable people were born in Potosi.
City in Missouri, U.S.
Potosi ( pə-TOH-see) is a city and the county seat of Washington County, Missouri, United States. Potosi is 72 miles (116 km) southwest of St. Louis. The population was 2,538 as of the 2020 census. Located in the Lead Belt, the city was founded in 1763 by French colonists as Mine à Breton or Mine au Breton. After the United States acquired this area, American Moses Austin renamed the community for the Bolivian silver-mining city of Potosí. He was involved in lead mining.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Potosi grades C− overall, better than 19% of U.S. towns and #190 of 247 in Missouri. It grades D for health, D− for safety and A for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a D−.
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 B+.
7 notable people were born here, including Don Choate and Firmin V. Desloge.
