Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 6,942, settled in 1860.
Sullivan gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $207K, 2.6 years of the St. Louis metro’s $80K median household income. It grades C overall, 149th of 247 graded towns in Missouri. The low prices come with trade-offs. It reports more crime per resident than 95% of U.S. towns, including 32 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025, and CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 81% of the country. On the plus side, it is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 83% of U.S. towns. Sullivan’s property crime rate is 40.5 per 1,000 residents, above both Missouri’s towns (12.4) and U.S. towns (9.9). Sullivan has 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Shamrock Court.
Where Sullivan beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Missouri), ordered by how far Sullivan is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 155 in 1880, 6,906 in 2020. The archive holds 3 old photos and papers going back to 2019 and 3 maps from 1947 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Sullivan, 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 Sullivan.
Sullivan trades lower home prices for longer drives to work, but it reports property crime at about twice the Missouri rate.
Property crime runs at 40.5 per 1,000 residents, about twice the Missouri rate, most of it theft.
Sullivan’s violent crime rate is 4.6 per 1,000 residents. Sullivan reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 95% report less.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Its public schools are run by the Sullivan school district. Two of its 5 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Sullivan SR. High, with 668 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sullivan PrimaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–2 | Grades PK–2 | 453 | – |
| Sullivan SR. HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 668 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MO on state tests and graduation
27% of Sullivan adults have been diagnosed with depression. Sullivan beats the Missouri average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 2. 41% of Sullivan adults have obesity.
| Sullivan | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 25% | 23% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 38% | 35% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 30% | 25% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 17% | 14% |
| What stands out | Sullivan | MO |
|---|---|---|
| More adults with COPD | 9.5% | 8% |
| More adults with heart disease | 7.6% | 6.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Homes are within reach (about $207K for the typical one, A for cost of living), but half of working residents commute more than 25 miles. At 2.6 years of the St. Louis metro’s $80K median household income, the typical home (about $207K) costs less against local pay than in 78% of Missouri towns; that ratio is one input to its A for cost of living.
The typical Sullivan home is worth about $207,000, up 4.2% in a year, 22% below the Missouri typical home. The median rent in Sullivan is $919 a month.
| Sullivan | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 62% | 64% | 73% |
| Median rent | $919 a month | $972 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 68% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Sullivan has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 88°, January nights drop to 21° and about 8 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
About one in 4 of Sullivan’s working residents works in town.
| Sullivan | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 26% | 13% | 8% |
| 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 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
0.4 miles of trail in 3 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is City Lake Park, at 37 acres.
| Sullivan | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 2.2% | 2.1% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. City Lake Park | — | 37 |
| 2. Campbell-Chapman Park | 0.1 mi | 34 |
| 3. Sunny Jim Bottomley City Park | — | 23 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
None within 15 miles of Sullivan; the nearest are
About 2 of every 100 Sullivan residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Missouri.
3 notable people were born in Sullivan.
City in Missouri, United States
Sullivan is a city that straddles the border of Franklin and Crawford counties in the U.S. state of Missouri. The population was 6,906 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Sullivan.
| Town | MO rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sullivan | #149 | C | A | D | B− | C− |
| Oak Grove Village | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| West Sullivan | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Oak Grove Village and West Sullivan aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Sullivan with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Sullivan grades C overall, better than 32% of U.S. towns and #149 of 247 in Missouri. It grades C− for health, D for safety and B− for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a D.
Not for the area. Louis, MO-IL metro 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.
3 notable people were born here, including George Hearst and Bruce Woodcock.
