Joplin, MO
Joplin, MO-KS Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Joplin, MO-KS Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Joplin ranks 218th for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 256th for income. A household earns $62,796 a year while median rent runs $1,001/mo, making it expensive relative to what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 14% below the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is cost of living (10th of 300), while education is the soft spot (263rd). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 44th and home prices 20th 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 Joplin, your take-home is worth about $68,486 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
- 256th of 300↑28.4%$62,796
- 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.
- 10th of 30086 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $73,259
- Per-capita income
- $32,838
- Full-time pay
- $37,195
Housing
- Median rent
- 44th of 300↑39.8%$1,001/mo
- Home value
- 20th of 300↑44.4%$184,500
- Property tax
- $1,190/yr · 0.6%
- Sales tax
- 8.41%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 176th of 3004.7%
- Bachelor's+
- 263rd of 30024.2%
- Avg commute
- 35th of 30020.8 min
People
- Population
- 207,131
- Population change
- +15.4%
- Median age
- 38.3 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 3.6%
- Broadband
- 89.6%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 80th of 30041
- Natural-hazard loss
- 178th of 300$14/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 240th of 30022.1%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 10.8%
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
- + Commute
- + Air quality
Watch-outs
- – Affordability
- – Household income
- – Education
- – Health
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — joplin rgnl ap.
What jobs pay in Joplin
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- Family medicine physicians
- $200,530
- IT managers
- $129,810
- Pharmacists
- $127,710
- Financial managers
- $127,550
- Software developers
- $105,960
- Lawyers
- $96,190
- Civil engineers
- $79,220
- Registered nurses
- $74,930
- Accountants & auditors
- $72,560
- Electricians
- $67,720
- Plumbers
- $64,370
- Secondary school teachers
- $50,690
- Construction laborers
- $49,880
- Elementary school teachers
- $48,770
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $48,740
- Carpenters
- $48,540
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $47,430
- Police officers
- $45,460
- Customer service reps
- $41,850
- Janitors
- $34,620
- Retail salespersons
- $30,740
- Cashiers
- $29,050
- Waiters & waitresses
- $28,600
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 Joplin 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.
- Oklahoma724
- Texas543
- Arkansas531
- Indiana527
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Joplin
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Joplin metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Joplin metro?
- Median gross rent across the Joplin, MO-KS Metro Area is $1,001 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Joplin.
- What is the median household income in the Joplin metro?
- A typical household in the Joplin, MO-KS Metro Area earns $62,796 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Joplin expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Joplin, MO-KS Metro Area runs about 14% 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 Joplin metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $73,259 (versus its face value of $62,796). CityLedger rates the Joplin, MO-KS Metro Area expensive for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Joplin metro?
- The median home value across the Joplin, MO-KS Metro Area is $184,500 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Joplin metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Joplin, MO-KS Metro Area is 4.7% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).