These Are The 10 Best Places Places In Missouri To Get A Job

.street-view{width:100%;height:300px;pointer-events:none;}

If you’re starting to look for a job in Missouri, you’ve come to the right place.

You might think off the top of your head that Jefferson City would be an excellent place to find a job. And while the capital does offer many opportunities, it isn’t the best in the state according to the data.

Here at Zippia, we aim to answer questions like this using cold hard facts and analysis. So we set our sights on determining the best place in Missouri to find a job.

After analyzing all 20 plus places in Missouri, we came up with this list as the best places for jobs in the Show Me State:

So listen up Raytown as we explain how we created this ranking, you could learn some things from the rest of the state.

How We Determined The Best Places For Jobs In Show Me State

We first researched detailed data on all places in Missouri. However, in order to properly compare places in an apples-to-apples manner, we set a minimum population threshold of 5,000 people.

This left us with 20 places in Missouri to analyze.

We then ranked each place across a number of criteria from one to 20, with one being the best.

We took the average rank across all criteria, with the place posting the lowest overall score being crowned the winner of the title “Best Place For Jobs In Missouri”.

The criteria we looked at were:

Unemployment rate
Recent job growth
Future job growth
Median household income

Sources of criteria include the the BLS and Sperling’s Best Places.

If your city or town isn’t among the top 10, jump down to the bottom of the post to see a detailed chart and a downloadable file of all the data.

Otherwise, learn how these cities moved up the career ladder.

1. Columbia

Population: 109,008Unemployment Rate: 3.80%
Recent Job Growth: 1.61%
Future Job Growth: 39.40%

2. Springfield

Population: 160,246Unemployment Rate: 5.00%
Recent Job Growth: 1.60%
Future Job Growth: 38.20%

3. Wildwood

Population: 35,388Unemployment Rate: 4.10%
Recent Job Growth: -0.26%
Future Job Growth: 35.40%

4. Sedalia

Population: 21,340Unemployment Rate: 5.30%
Recent Job Growth: 1.52%
Future Job Growth: 37.70%

5. Chesterfield

Population: 47,471Unemployment Rate: 4.10%
Recent Job Growth: -0.26%
Future Job Growth: 35.40%

6. Ballwin

Population: 30,446Unemployment Rate: 4.40%
Recent Job Growth: -0.25%
Future Job Growth: 35.10%

7. Kirkwood

Population: 27,494Unemployment Rate: 4.40%
Recent Job Growth: -0.26%
Future Job Growth: 35.10%

8. O’Fallon

Population: 79,073Unemployment Rate: 4.50%
Recent Job Growth: -0.25%
Future Job Growth: 35.00%

9. Joplin

Population: 49,924Unemployment Rate: 5.20%
Recent Job Growth: -0.14%
Future Job Growth: 34.50%

10. Wentzville

Source: Wikipedia

Population: 28,879Unemployment Rate: 5.20%
Recent Job Growth: -0.26%
Future Job Growth: 34.30%

Detailed List Of The Best Places In Missouri For Jobs

City	Rank	Population	Unemployment Rate	Recent Job Growth	Future Job Growth
Columbia	1	109,008	3.80%	1.61%	39.40%
Springfield	2	160,246	5.00%	1.60%	38.20%
Wildwood	3	35,388	4.10%	-0.26%	35.40%
Sedalia	4	21,340	5.30%	1.52%	37.70%
Chesterfield	5	47,471	4.10%	-0.26%	35.40%
Ballwin	6	30,446	4.40%	-0.25%	35.10%
Kirkwood	7	27,494	4.40%	-0.26%	35.10%
O’Fallon	8	79,073	4.50%	-0.25%	35.00%
Joplin	9	49,924	5.20%	-0.14%	34.50%
Wentzville	10	28,879	5.20%	-0.26%	34.30%
Liberty	11	29,252	4.90%	-0.32%	34.50%
Belton	12	23,182	5.70%	-0.32%	33.70%
Ferguson	13	21,205	6.10%	-0.26%	33.40%
Gladstone	14	25,635	5.80%	-0.32%	33.60%
Hazelwood	15	25,678	6.50%	-0.26%	33.00%
Arnold	16	20,859	6.50%	-0.26%	33.00%
Independence	17	116,513	6.40%	-0.32%	33.00%
Grandview	18	24,491	6.60%	-0.31%	32.80%
Florissant	19	52,273	6.80%	-0.26%	32.70%
Raytown	20	29,486	7.40%	-0.32%	32.00%

Never miss an opportunity that’s right for you.

Author

Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar is a co-founder of Zippia and the editor-in-chief of the Zippia career advice blog. He has hired over 50 people in his career, been hired five times, and wants to help you land your next job. His research has been featured on the New York Times, Thrillist, VOX, The Atlantic, and a host of local news. More recently, he's been quoted on USA Today, BusinessInsider, and CNBC.

Create Resume