City safety & data profile

West PlainsMO

West Plains, MO is a 12K-resident city in Howell County with a median household income of $44,002.

Howell County, Missouri. Federal health, economic, and safety indicators for West Plains, drawn from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, CDC PLACES, and CMS Hospital Compare. West Plains has a population larger than 14% of the 4,640 U.S. cities Areazine tracks, a median home value of $169,900, and 1 hospital serving the surrounding area.

Data updated 2026-09-04

12K
Population (place)
Bottom 15%
By size
$44,002
Median income (place)
$169,900
Median home (place)
28.1%
Poverty rate (place)
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The read on West Plains

West Plains posts a median household income higher than 4% of U.S. cities Areazine tracks, where 1 hospital serves the West Plains area.

Bottom 5%
by median income, US cities
1
hospital in & near West Plains

Where West Plains income ranks nationally

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

$44,002 Bottom 4% higher than 4% of 3,889 places Areazine profiles

West Plains $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 West Plains, MO beyond the headline numbers

West Plains sits inside Howell County, Missouri, at roughly 36.73°N, -91.85°W. Population 12,285, $44,002 median household income. Median home value $169,900, median rent $810. Poverty rate 28.1%, read against that income figure since two cities on the same median can differ underneath it.

1 hospital in/around West Plains, 2/5 avg rating, 1 with an ER.

28.1% of West Plains, MO residents live below the poverty line, placing it in the hardest-hit quarter of reporting cities. Read every median on this page against that: half the households are above it, and a large minority are far below.

The median home in West Plains costs roughly 3.9 times median household income, below the midpoint for reporting cities, so ownership remains reachable on a typical local wage.

Only 3.6% of West Plains workers report working from home, the lowest quarter of reporting cities -- an economy still built around showing up somewhere.

Among the CDC measures on this page, coronary heart disease departs furthest from its peer median: 9.6% in West Plains, the highest-prevalence quarter of the 3,757 cities reporting that measure.

Public transit carries 0% of West Plains workers, a smaller share than at least three quarters of reporting cities.

Sources: U.S. Census ACS, CDC PLACES, CMS Hospital Compare, plus live alerts for West Plains 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)
12,285
West Plains · Census Place
Median Income (place)
$44,002
-51% vs avg
Median Home Value (place)
$169,900
-59% vs avg
Median Age (place)
36.3
years · ACS place

10-Year Trends 2013–2024

County-level trend (Howell County): West Plains'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
40K-0%
Median Income
$50,993+57%
Median Home Value
$173,000+77%
Poverty Rate
20.3%-15%
Unemployment
5%-43%

Economics

Economics indicators for West Plains, MO
IndicatorValue
Median Rent
$810/mo
Poverty Rate
28.1% +127% vs avg
Unemployment 4.2%
Bachelor's Degree+ 17.1%
Work From Home 3.6%
Public Transit 0%

Population

White 94.2%
African American 1%
Asian 0.5%
Two or More Ethnicities 4.1%

Health Profile 14 measures

Health Indicators

High Blood Pressure
41.1%
Short Sleep Duration
38.9%
Obesity
37.4%
Physical Inactivity
36.6%
Current Smoking
22.3%
Frequent Mental Distress
20.4%
Frequent Physical Distress
18.8%
Diabetes
15.3%
Binge Drinking
14%
Lack of Health Insurance
11.8%

Preventive Care

Annual Checkup 78.3%

Other Measures

Current Asthma
11.6%
Coronary Heart Disease
9.6%
Stroke
5.1%

Hospitals 1 total

Rating Distribution
★★★★★
0
★★★★
0
★★★
0
★★
1
★
0
Average Rating
2/5
Total Hospitals
1
With ER
1
OZARKS HEALTHCARE
WEST PLAINS · Acute Care Hospitals · ER
★★☆☆☆

What alerts and safety updates affect West Plains?

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

City alert dispatch desk

Sheet MO-WEST-PLAINS · West Plains

West Plains: no area-tagged alerts on record — state hubs carry the live CAP stream.

  • FEED-QUIET No tagged alerts
  • LEAD-NONE Feed idle
  • DESK-IDLE Awaiting feed

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

Read with this city profile

Tracking Safety Alerts in Your Area

How Areazine tags West Plains in the CAP feed
All safety guides →

Frequently Asked Questions 6

What is the population of West Plains, MO? ▼
West Plains, MO has a population of 12,285 people, located in Howell County, Missouri.
What is the median household income in West Plains? ▼
The median household income in West Plains, MO is $44,002 per year, per the U.S. Census ACS. The poverty rate is 28.1%.
What is the median home value in West Plains? ▼
The median home value in West Plains, MO is $169,900. Median rent is $810/month.
What are the top health concerns in West Plains? ▼
The top health indicators in West Plains include High Blood Pressure (41.1%), Short Sleep Duration (38.9%), Obesity (37.4%). Data from CDC PLACES.
How many hospitals are in West Plains? ▼
West Plains has 1 hospital with an average rating of 2/5 stars. 1 have emergency departments.
What is the median age in West Plains? ▼
The median age in West Plains, MO is 36.3 years. 17.1% of residents have a bachelor's degree or higher.

Nationwide cities with similar poverty or income 8

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

Similar poverty rate

Nearest place-level ACS poverty rates outside MO (28.1% here).

Gadsden, AL 28.1% Ozark, AL 28.1% Portales, NM 28.1% Sweetwater, TX 28.1%

Similar median income

Nearest place-level ACS median household incomes outside MO ($44,002 here).

Harrison, AR $44,056 Cleveland, MS $44,074 Reading, PA $44,091 Murray, KY $44,091

Compare West Plains 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

Mountain Home, AR 12K Batesville, AR 11K Fort Leonard Wood, MO 15K Rolla, MO 20K Lebanon, MO 15K Harrison, AR 13K Branson, MO 11K Ozark, MO 19K
All cities in Missouri → Compare West Plains vs Mountain Home → All comparisons → Browse all cities

Using West Plains'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 West Plains 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 West Plains 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 (Howell 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.