Jefferson City, MO
Jefferson City, MO Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Jefferson City, MO Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Jefferson City ranks 118th for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 172nd for income. A household earns $73,164 a year while median rent runs $874/mo, making it moderately affordable for what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 12% below the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is rent (8th of 300), while education is the soft spot (199th). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 8th and home prices 89th among the 300 metros CityLedger tracks.
For your salary & household
Enter your pay and household size to see what it's really worth here — the numbers update live and the link stays shareable.
On $75,000 for just you in Jefferson City, your take-home is worth about $66,729 once local prices are factored in — local prices stretch it further than the U.S. average.
Take-home estimates a single filer taking the standard deduction (2025 federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax) and isn't tax advice. “Real value” rebases take-home to average U.S. prices using the BEA cost-of-living index; the per-person figure uses the OECD square-root equivalence scale.
The numbers
Income & cost
- Median income
- 172nd of 300↑20.4%$73,164
- Cost of living?The local price level vs. the U.S. average of 100 (BEA). Lower means cheaper. This is raw prices, not adjusted for income.
- 28th of 30088 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $83,165
- Per-capita income
- $37,966
- Full-time pay
- $43,259
Housing
- Median rent
- 8th of 300↑23.1%$874/mo
- Home value
- 89th of 300↑52.5%$250,400
- Property tax
- $1,540/yr · 0.6%
- Sales tax
- 8.41%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 15th of 3002.6%
- Bachelor's+
- 199th of 30030.3%
- Avg commute
- 31st of 30020.7 min
People
- Population
- 152,832
- Population change
- +0.9%
- Median age
- 40.8 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 2.9%
- Broadband
- 89.3%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 68th of 30040
- Natural-hazard loss
- 165th of 300$13/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 147th of 30018.4%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 8.5%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (ACS), U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. EPA, FEMA, CDC, NOAA — every figure's source is listed on our methodology page. Data built 2026-06-14. ↑↓ mark the change since 2019.
How CityLedger scores it
Transparent weights — see our methodology.
Strengths
- + Cost of living
- + Rent
- + Home prices
- + Job market
- + Commute
- + Air quality
Watch-outs
- —
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — jefferson city mem ap.
What jobs pay in Jefferson City
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- Family medicine physicians
- $224,100
- Pharmacists
- $130,190
- IT managers
- $127,330
- Financial managers
- $123,340
- Lawyers
- $93,320
- Registered nurses
- $85,010
- Civil engineers
- $77,980
- General & operations managers
- $76,170
- Electricians
- $67,630
- Accountants & auditors
- $64,040
- Police officers
- $59,860
- Construction laborers
- $58,220
- Carpenters
- $57,030
- Secondary school teachers
- $50,950
- Plumbers
- $49,560
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $48,860
- Elementary school teachers
- $47,960
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $46,320
- Customer service reps
- $38,990
- Janitors
- $34,540
- Retail salespersons
- $30,400
- Waiters & waitresses
- $30,280
- Cashiers
- $29,420
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS 2025 — annual median wage. Cross-industry, all experience levels.
Where new residents move from
The states sending the most people to the Jefferson City metro, by estimated movers (U.S. Census 2022 migration flows, 5-year). Moves from elsewhere in Missouri are excluded to show where out-of-state arrivals originate.
- Kansas641
- Illinois434
- Colorado182
- Ohio177
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Jefferson City
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Jefferson City metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Jefferson City metro?
- Median gross rent across the Jefferson City, MO Metro Area is $874 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Jefferson City.
- What is the median household income in the Jefferson City metro?
- A typical household in the Jefferson City, MO Metro Area earns $73,164 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Jefferson City expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Jefferson City, MO Metro Area runs about 12% below the U.S. average (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024) — prices are lower than average, before accounting for local pay.
- Does a paycheck go far in the Jefferson City metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $83,165 (versus its face value of $73,164). CityLedger rates the Jefferson City, MO Metro Area moderately affordable for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Jefferson City metro?
- The median home value across the Jefferson City, MO Metro Area is $250,400 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Jefferson City metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Jefferson City, MO Metro Area is 2.6% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).