City safety & data profile

IndependenceMO

Independence, MO is a 117K-resident city in Jackson County with a median household income of $60,339.

Jackson County, Missouri. Federal health, economic, and safety indicators for Independence, drawn from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, CDC PLACES, and CMS Hospital Compare. Independence has a population larger than 94% of the 4,640 U.S. cities Areazine tracks, a median home value of $172,900, and 1 hospital serving the surrounding area.

Data updated 2026-09-04

117K
Population (place)
Top 6%
By size
$60,339
Median income (place)
$172,900
Median home (place)
15.8%
Poverty rate (place)
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The read on Independence

Independence posts a median household income higher than 23% of U.S. cities Areazine tracks, where 1 hospital serves the Independence area.

Bottom 24%
by median income, US cities
1
hospital in & near Independence

Where Independence income ranks nationally

Median household income vs. every place Areazine profiles (place-level ACS)

$60,339 Bottom 23% higher than 23% of 3,889 places Areazine profiles

Independence $0 $260,000 every profiled place, bucketed by value

Each bar is a $20K-wide band; taller bars hold more places Areazine profiles. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (place-level) · 2024 ACS 5-year

Largest cities in MO

Population among 83 MO places with 10,000+ residents and ACS income on Areazine. Tooltip shows the income rank in the same pool.

residents

What this shows Kansas City is the largest MO city on this list; Town and Country leads median income.

Source U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (place-level) As of 2024 ACS 5-year

Highest median incomes in MO

Median household income among the same 83-city pool. Tooltip shows the population rank.

median

What this shows Town and Country posts the highest place-level median income in MO; Kansas City is largest by headcount.

Source U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (place-level) As of 2024 ACS 5-year

The quick read

Reading Independence, MO beyond the headline numbers

Independence sits inside Jackson County, Missouri, at roughly 39.09°N, -94.42°W. Population 117,255, $60,339 median household income. Median home value $172,900, median rent $1,109. Poverty rate 15.8%, read against that income figure since two cities on the same median can differ underneath it.

1 hospital in/around Independence, 3/5 avg rating, 1 with an ER.

Poverty in Independence, MO stands at 15.8%, above the midpoint of reporting cities. A median income can look comfortable while a share this size sits well beneath it, which is why the two figures belong together.

Housing is inexpensive against local pay -- the median home in Independence runs about 2.9 years of median household income, in the cheapest quarter of reporting cities.

Remote work covers 12.3% of Independence workers, under the midpoint for reporting cities.

Among the CDC measures on this page, current smoking departs furthest from its peer median: 18.4% in Independence, the highest-prevalence quarter of the 3,759 cities reporting that measure.

Sources: U.S. Census ACS, CDC PLACES, CMS Hospital Compare, plus live alerts for Independence from FEMA, NOAA, FDA, and CPSC. Economic comparison bars use the unweighted average across tracked Census places with a reported value, not a household-weighted national median.

Population (place)
117,255
Independence · Census Place
Median Income (place)
$60,339
-33% vs avg
Median Home Value (place)
$172,900
-58% vs avg
Median Age (place)
39
years · ACS place

10-Year Trends 2013–2024

County-level trend (Jackson County): Independence's own historical series isn't separately published by the Census Bureau, so these year-over-year figures track the surrounding county, not the city alone.

20132024
Population
720K+7%
Median Income
$68,577+46%
Median Home Value
$230,500+82%
Poverty Rate
14.1%-19%
Unemployment
4.6%-51%

Economics

Economics indicators for Independence, MO
IndicatorValue
Median Rent
$1,109/mo
Poverty Rate
15.8% +27% vs avg
Unemployment 5.6%
Bachelor's Degree+ 21.9%
Work From Home 12.3%
Public Transit 0.5%

Population

White 71.4%
African American 10.7%
Asian 1.2%
Two or More Ethnicities 3.4%

Health Profile 15 measures

Health Indicators

High Blood Pressure
37.3%
Obesity
37.3%
Short Sleep Duration
34.7%
Physical Inactivity
33.9%
Frequent Mental Distress
19.9%
Current Smoking
18.4%
Binge Drinking
16.8%
Frequent Physical Distress
16%
Diabetes
12.9%
Lack of Health Insurance
11.5%

Preventive Care

Dental Visit 58.5%
Annual Checkup 76.9%

Other Measures

Current Asthma
10.7%
Coronary Heart Disease
7.5%
Stroke
4.1%

Hospitals 1 total

Rating Distribution
★★★★★
0
★★★★
0
★★★
1
★★
0
★
0
Average Rating
3/5
Total Hospitals
1
With ER
1
CENTERPOINT MEDICAL CENTER
INDEPENDENCE · Acute Care Hospitals · ER
★★★☆☆

What alerts and safety updates affect Independence?

No area-tagged alerts are on record for Independence right now. New federal and counterpart-agency notices still land in the site feed as agencies publish them.

City alert dispatch desk

Sheet MO-INDEPENDENCE-MO · Independence

Independence: 1 tagged alert; lead category NWS weather alert.

  • VOL-TRACE 1 on record
  • WX-LED 100% weather
  • DESK-MIX NOAA
  • PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Houston

Tagged alert mix: Independence

Published notices carrying this city slug or location tag

Value

What this shows 1 tagged notice on record for Independence.

Source Areazine publication corpus As of Live tagged feed

Nearest tagged-volume peer: Houston, TX (1 tagged · Δ0)

Counts reflect published articles tagged to Independence; untagged NOAA county warnings may still appear in the site feed. Browse Missouri state hubs · Methodology

Cities with a similar tagged alert volume 4

Nearest published-notice counts on Areazine (1 tagged here), a feed-density peer set, not an ACS demographic match.

Houston, TX 1 alerts Washington, DC 1 alerts Nashville, TN 1 alerts Portland, OR 1 alerts

Read with this city profile

Understanding Weather Alerts

Watch vs warning vs advisory, how NOAA labels map to action
All safety guides →

Frequently Asked Questions 6

What is the population of Independence, MO? ▼
Independence, MO has a population of 117,255 people, located in Jackson County, Missouri.
What is the median household income in Independence? ▼
The median household income in Independence, MO is $60,339 per year, per the U.S. Census ACS. The poverty rate is 15.8%.
What is the median home value in Independence? ▼
The median home value in Independence, MO is $172,900. Median rent is $1,109/month.
What are the top health concerns in Independence? ▼
The top health indicators in Independence include High Blood Pressure (37.3%), Obesity (37.3%), Short Sleep Duration (34.7%). Data from CDC PLACES.
How many hospitals are in Independence? ▼
Independence has 1 hospital with an average rating of 3/5 stars. 1 have emergency departments.
What is the median age in Independence? ▼
The median age in Independence, MO is 39 years. 21.9% of residents have a bachelor's degree or higher.

Nationwide cities with similar poverty or income 8

Two ACS-derived peer sets for Independence, both outside Missouri so the neighborhoods are not the geographic nearby list below.

Similar poverty rate

Nearest place-level ACS poverty rates outside MO (15.8% here).

Indianapolis, IN 15.8% Amarillo, TX 15.8% Tempe, AZ 15.8% Fort Collins, CO 15.8%

Similar median income

Nearest place-level ACS median household incomes outside MO ($60,339 here).

Show Low, AZ $60,368 Circleville, OH $60,296 Vienna, WV $60,388 Dearborn Heights, MI $60,391

Compare Independence with another city

Pick a second U.S. city to open a side-by-side profile on population, income, health, and hospitals, the same federal datasets as this page.

Quick picks:

Nearby Cities 8

East Independence, MO 111K Raytown, MO 29K Blue Springs, MO 54K Liberty, MO 30K Kansas City, MO 475K Gladstone, MO 27K Lee's Summit, MO 95K Kansas City, KS 153K
All cities in Missouri → Compare Independence vs East Independence → All comparisons → Browse all cities

Using Independence's profile

Use this as a starting research checklist, not a verdict on whether to live here.

  • Check live recalls, weather and hazard alerts scoped to the Independence area before relying on national headlines. Check your area
  • Read the poverty rate alongside the income figure, two places with the same median can have very different realities.
  • Compare Independence against Missouri peers on any ranking lens. Explore Missouri

Population and economics (income, home value, poverty, education) are place-level U.S. Census ACS; health is CDC PLACES; hospital counts reflect facilities in and around the city. County-level trends are labeled when shown.

Data Sources

All data on this page comes from official U.S. government sources. Population and economic data from the Census Bureau American Community Survey (2024 5-year estimates, place geography). Health data from the CDC PLACES program (2023). Hospital ratings from CMS Hospital Compare (2024). Climate data from NOAA. Education data from NCES. Cost of living from Bureau of Economic Analysis. Crime statistics, where referenced on Areazine, originate from the FBI Crime Data Explorer. Housing market figures referenced on Areazine come from HUD Fair Market Rents. Census economics and population are at place geography; some health and hospital indicators are reported at the county level (Jackson County) where that is the smallest published unit.

Every figure on Areazine is published directly from official U.S. government sources, no number is typed in by an editor. City demographic and health figures are compiled directly from U.S. Census (place-level ACS), CDC, and CMS releases, updated quarterly within 30 days of upstream release. County-level trends are labeled when shown. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026.