Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Sikeston earns a D, 224th among Missouri's 247 graded towns, mostly because of safety and health. Its police reported 166 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025, a higher rate per resident than 98% of U.S. towns. CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 90% of the country. What it does well: it is more walkable than 68% of U.S. towns. 44% of working residents work locally in Sikeston, above both the Missouri town median (13%) and the median of U.S. towns (8%). On hazard risk, just 18 of Missouri’s 419 towns do worse. Its National Register listings include Marshall Hotel and Lincoln School.
Where Sikeston beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Sikeston St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway Depot
Jacqueline ScottWhere Sikeston’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 Sikeston is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 191 in 1880, 16,291 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1911 and 3 maps from 1931 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Sikeston, 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 Sikeston.
Sikeston draws workers from Cape Girardeau and beyond, but it reports violent crime at about twice the Missouri rate and carries more natural-hazard risk than most of Missouri (mostly earthquakes).
Violent crime runs at 10.4 per 1,000 residents, about twice the Missouri rate; the Safety Grade counts each violent crime four times, so this weighs most on its D−. Reported crimes fell from 881 to 603 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Sikeston’s violent crime rate is 10.4 per 1,000 residents. Sikeston reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 98% report less. Sikeston’s property crime rate is 27.3 per 1,000 residents.
| Sikeston | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 10.4 per 1,000 residents | 2.2 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 27.3 per 1,000 residents | 12.4 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Its public schools are run by the Sikeston R-6 school district. Two of its 13 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sikeston Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 5–6 | Grades 5–6 | 493 | C |
| Sikeston Senior High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 955 | B |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MO on state tests and graduation
10,590 jobs are based in Sikeston, 1.6 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. The average commute takes 15.7 minutes, against 23.5 across Missouri.
The average trip to work in Sikeston is 16 minutes. The top destinations are Cape Girardeau (6%), Miner (4%) and Dexter (3%). 3.7% of Sikeston workers work from home.
| Sikeston | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 16 minutes | 22 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 3.7% | 9% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 14% | 14% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $59,000 | $62,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
13 miles of trail in 3 parks and preserves.
| Sikeston | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.7 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 1.5% | 2.1% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Sikeston Park | 0.5 mi | 15 |
| 2. West End Park | — | 8 |
| 3. Malone Park | — | 2 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
39% of adults get no exercise outside work in Sikeston. Sikeston beats the Missouri average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 17. 42% of adults sleep under 7 hours in Sikeston.
| Sikeston | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 39% | 30% | 25% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 42% | 38% | 36% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 42% | 37% | 35% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 17% | 14% |
| What stands out | Sikeston | MO |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer binge drinkers | 13.4% | 16.3% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 21.8% | 13.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 97% of Missouri towns, with expected losses of about $382 per resident a year; that rating is what its D for hazard risk is built on.
Since 1978, 57 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Sikeston. Among 247 Missouri towns, just 8 have a higher FEMA risk score than Sikeston.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
At about $163K, home values are up 7% in five years, against a rise of 26% across Missouri.
The typical Sikeston home is worth about $163,000, up 2.3% in a year, 39% below the Missouri typical home.
| Sikeston | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 61% | 64% | 73% |
| Median rent | $891 a month | $972 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Sikeston has chilly winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 90°, January nights drop to 28° and about 3 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Adults 35 to 64 are 32% of residents (37% statewide). 28% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 32% across Missouri.
| Sikeston | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 22% | 17% | 18% |
| Under 18 | 25% | 23% | 22% |
| Median age | 38.2 years | 38.5 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 28% | 22% | 29% |
55% women, 45% men
About 83 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±1.7 points). Across Missouri, 50.7% of residents are women.
| Sikeston | MO | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 15.2% | 11.9% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 10.1% | 10.4% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 7.8% | 9.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 13.2% | 13.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 10.5% | 12.8% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 10.2% | 11.6% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 11.3% | 13% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 10.7% | 10.6% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 11.1% | 7.3% | 7% |
| No diploma | 10.3% | 8.1% | 10.4% |
| High school | 39.1% | 30.2% | 26% |
| Some college | 18.5% | 20.8% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 4.5% | 8.4% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 16.3% | 19.8% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 11.3% | 12.6% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
None within 15 miles of Sikeston; the nearest are
About 3 of every 100 Sikeston residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Missouri.
19 notable people were born in Sikeston.
City in Missouri, United States
Sikeston ( SYKE-stən) is a city located both in southern Scott County and northern New Madrid County, in the state of Missouri, United States. It is situated just north of the "Missouri Bootheel", although many locals consider Sikeston a part of it. By way of Interstate 55, Interstate 57, and U.S. Route 60, Sikeston is close to the halfway point between St. Louis and Memphis, Tennessee and is four hours from Nashville. The city is named after John Sikes, who founded it in 1860. It is the principal city of the Sikeston Micropolitan Statistical Area, which consists of all of Scott County, and has a total population of 41,143. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 16,291, making it th…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Sikeston.
Miner isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Sikeston with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Sikeston grades D overall, better than 9% of U.S. towns and #224 of 247 in Missouri. It grades D for health, D− for safety and B− for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a D−.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B.
19 notable people were born here, including Jacqueline Scott and Neal E. Boyd.