Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Scott City gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $175K, 2.9 years of the Sikeston area’s $59K median household income. It grades C overall, 150th of 247 graded towns in Missouri. The low prices come with trade-offs. FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 80% of U.S. communities, with earthquakes at the top, and CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 84% of the country. 13% of residents are 65 or older in Scott City, against 17% in Missouri’s towns and 18% across U.S. towns. The biggest park or preserve is Scott City Park and Public Pool, at 34 acres. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 74% of U.S. towns.
Where Scott City beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Missouri), ordered by how far Scott City is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,209 in 1910, 4,346 in 2020. The archive holds 4 maps from 1934 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Scott City, 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 Scott City.
Scott City fares better on crime within Missouri than nationally, trades workers with Cape Girardeau and other neighbors and has property taxes about half the Missouri norm.
36% of adults get no exercise outside work in Scott City. Scott City beats the Missouri average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 8. 21% of adults smoke cigarettes in Scott City.
| Scott City | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 36% | 30% | 25% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 17% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 15% | 14% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 25% | 23% |
| What stands out | Scott City | MO |
|---|---|---|
| More adults with COPD | 10.3% | 8% |
| More smokers | 20.5% | 16% |
| More adults who get no exercise | 35.9% | 28.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its public schools are run by the Scott City R-I school district. Two of its 4 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scott City Elem.Largest public elementary schoolGrades PK–4 | Grades PK–4 | 282 | D |
| Scott City HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 268 | B+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MO on state tests and graduation
Since 1982, 42 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Scott City.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The median property tax bill is $769, against $1,948 across Missouri, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
The typical Scott City home is worth about $175,000, about the same as a year ago, 34% below the Missouri typical home.
| Scott City | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $933 a month | $972 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 72% | 64% | 73% |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Scott City has chilly winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. Scott City’s July high is 89°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Scott City has about as many jobs (1,628) as working residents, but only 191 people both live and work here.
Most working residents leave Scott City for work: only 11% work in town. Since 2013, Scott City has added 184 jobs, to 1,628 in 2023. The top destinations are Cape Girardeau (41%), Sikeston (6%) and Jackson (5%).
| Scott City | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 22 minutes | 22 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 11% | 14% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $63,000 | $62,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 11% | 13% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
At 21.4 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 56% of Missouri’s graded towns.
The violent crime rate in Scott City is 3.4 per 1,000 residents.
| Scott City | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 3.4 per 1,000 residents | 2.2 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 9.9 per 1,000 residents | 12.5 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
| Scott City | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 2.4% | 2.1% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Scott City Park and Public Pool | — | 34 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
2 within 15 miles of the center of Scott City
About 4 of every 100 Scott City residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Missouri.
City in Missouri, United States
Scott City is a city in Cape Girardeau and Scott counties in the U.S. state of Missouri. The population was 4,346 at the 2020 census. The Scott County portion of Scott City (the majority) is part of the Sikeston Micropolitan Statistical Area, while the Cape Girardeau County portion is part of the Cape Girardeau-Jackson metropolitan area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Scott City.
| Town | MO rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scott City | #150 | C | A− | C+ | B− | C− |
| Cape Girardeau | #203 | C− | B | D | C+ | C |
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Scott City grades C overall, better than 32% of U.S. towns and #150 of 247 in Missouri. It grades C− for health, C+ for safety and B− for schools. Hazard risk 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 A−.