Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 2,211, settled in 1869.
Willow Springs’ best subject grade is an A for cost of living; its weakest is a D for incomes. Residents are less healthy than 89% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. Among 243 Missouri towns, just 7 have a lower median rent than Willow Springs. Willow Springs has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Willow Springs beats most towns.
Where Willow Springs’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 Willow Springs is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,535 in 1890, 2,164 in 2020. The archive holds 5 old photos and papers going back to 2021 and 3 maps from 1976 on.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Willow Springs, 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 Willow Springs.
About one in 5 of Willow Springs’s working residents works in town. 21% of residents live below the poverty line in Willow Springs, where Missouri’s towns sit at 14% and U.S. towns at 9.6%. The average trip to work in Willow Springs is 18 minutes.
| Willow Springs | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 21% | 14% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 18 minutes | 22 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $41,000 | $62,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 20% | 13% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its public schools are run by Willow Springs R-IV. Two of its 3 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Willow Springs High, with 370 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Willow Springs Elem.Largest public elementary schoolGrades PK–4 | Grades PK–4 | 446 | B− |
| Willow Springs HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 370 | B+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MO on state tests and graduation
18% of adults report frequent physical distress in Willow Springs, above both Missouri’s towns (15%) and U.S. towns (14%). 28% of adults say their health is fair or poor in Willow Springs. Willow Springs beats the Missouri average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 16.
| Willow Springs | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 15% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 22% | 19% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 35% | 30% | 25% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 17% | 14% |
| What stands out | Willow Springs | MO |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 29.1% | 15.8% |
| More adults with COPD | 11.9% | 8% |
| More adults who have had a stroke | 5% | 3.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The typical Willow Springs home is worth about $203,000, up 9.1% in a year, 24% below the Missouri typical home. 51% of Willow Springs households own their home.
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Willow Springs has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 88°, January nights drop to 24° and about 6 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Willow Springs’ property crime rate is 7.2 per 1,000 residents.
| Willow Springs | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 7.2 per 1,000 residents | 12.5 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.2 per 1,000 residents | 2.2 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 58% of U.S. communities. Since 1993, 9 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Willow Springs.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
None within 15 miles of Willow Springs; the nearest are
About 3 of every 100 Willow Springs residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Missouri.
3 notable people were born in Willow Springs.
City in Missouri, United States
Willow Springs is a city in Howell County, Missouri in the Ozark Mountains of the United States. The population was 2,164 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
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.
3 notable people were born here, including Wendell Bailey and Orland K. Armstrong.
