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PantryPath Research · Rural & Persistent Poverty Atlas

Rural poverty in Missouri

9 persistent-poverty counties

Missouri has 9 persistent-poverty counties and 80 nonmetro counties — home to 123,137 residents living in counties with 30+ years of 20%-or-higher poverty. The state's all-ages poverty rate is 12.6% and child poverty is 16.0%.

9

Persistent-poverty counties

80

Nonmetro counties (RUCC 4–9)

123K

Residents in PPCs

115

Total counties

Missouri by county

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Toggle between the rural hunger risk score, all-ages poverty, child poverty, the Rural-Urban Continuum Code, and the binary persistent-poverty flag. Hover a county for its ERS typology and ACS poverty rate.

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Missouri at a glance

Poverty rate

12.6%

All ages, ACS S1701

Child poverty

16.0%

Under 18

PPC share

7.8%

Of counties in state

Nonmetro share

69.6%

RUCC 4–9

Pantries / 100K

2.66

PantryPath verified

Risk score (mean)

0.27

Composite 0–1

"Pantries / 100K" divides Missouri's 164 verified PantryPath pantries by the state population — a minimum-density indicator, not a saturated census. See methodology.

County-level hotspots

Top five counties across 115 in Missouri.

Highest rural hunger risk

Composite 0–1 score

  1. 1 Wayne 0.70
  2. 2 Oregon 0.69
  3. 3 Ripley 0.68
  4. 4 Carter 0.68
  5. 5 Shannon 0.67

Highest poverty rate

ACS all-ages

  1. 1 Pemiscot 27.4%
  2. 2 Wayne 25.1%
  3. 3 Mississippi 23.0%
  4. 4 Barton 22.2%
  5. 5 Oregon 21.9%

Persistent-poverty counties

PPCs ranked by current poverty

  1. 1 Pemiscot 27.4%
  2. 2 Wayne 25.1%
  3. 3 Mississippi 23.0%
  4. 4 Oregon 21.9%
  5. 5 Dunklin 21.4%

Every county in Missouri

All 115 counties with RUCC, typology flags, and ACS poverty data.

County RUCC PPC Flags Poverty Child poverty Population Risk
Adair 7 Yes — 21.2% 11.7% 25,224 0.61
Andrew 3 — — 7.4% 7.2% 18,086 0.10
Atchison 9 — Pop. loss 12.5% 20.8% 5,216 0.35
Audrain 6 — Pop. loss 18.0% 27.6% 24,688 0.26
Barry 6 — — 16.7% 25.0% 34,831 0.25
Barton 8 — Pop. loss 22.2% 27.8% 11,685 0.35
Bates 1 — Low ed. 18.7% 28.3% 16,121 0.07
Benton 9 — Retire. 16.7% 25.5% 19,887 0.37
Bollinger 3 — Low ed. 12.2% 15.0% 10,591 0.12
Boone 3 — Housing 17.1% 14.8% 185,874 0.14
Buchanan 3 — — 16.9% 22.9% 83,855 0.14
Butler 5 — Housing 20.3% 25.3% 42,166 0.23
Caldwell 1 — — 13.0% 16.3% 8,890 0.05
Callaway 3 — — 11.5% 16.2% 44,541 0.12
Camden 7 — Retire. 13.2% 19.6% 43,416 0.28
Cape Girardeau 3 — — 14.1% 15.6% 82,180 0.13
Carroll 8 — Pop. loss 10.8% 12.6% 8,459 0.31
Carter 9 Yes Low ed. 19.2% 37.3% 5,269 0.68
Cass 1 — — 6.5% 9.1% 109,393 0.03
Cedar 8 — Retire. 17.0% 18.4% 14,440 0.33
Chariton 8 — Pop. loss 11.9% 18.6% 7,406 0.31
Christian 2 — — 8.7% 10.6% 91,229 0.07
Clark 9 — Pop. loss 9.4% 11.0% 6,680 0.34
Clay 1 — — 8.5% 11.6% 255,566 0.03
Clinton 1 — — 12.8% 13.8% 21,259 0.05
Cole 3 — — 9.3% 12.6% 76,924 0.11
Cooper 3 — — 10.8% 12.8% 16,835 0.12
Crawford 8 — — 13.6% 15.8% 22,890 0.32
Dade 8 — Pop. loss 14.1% 15.9% 7,627 0.32
Dallas 2 — — 21.4% 34.8% 17,344 0.12
Daviess 8 — — 13.2% 15.7% 8,449 0.32
DeKalb 3 — Low emp. 8.7% 8.2% 11,176 0.11
Dent 9 — — 14.3% 16.4% 14,506 0.36
Douglas 8 — — 16.9% 16.4% 11,850 0.33
Dunklin 7 Yes Low ed., Pop. loss 21.4% 26.8% 27,795 0.61
Franklin 1 — — 8.2% 9.7% 105,316 0.03
Gasconade 8 — Pop. loss 11.3% 17.0% 14,774 0.31
Gentry 8 — Pop. loss 15.6% 17.9% 6,224 0.32
Greene 2 — Housing 14.4% 14.9% 301,121 0.10
Grundy 7 — Pop. loss 16.8% 13.5% 9,822 0.29
Harrison 9 — — 16.1% 16.5% 8,198 0.36
Henry 6 — — 16.3% 22.4% 22,194 0.25
Hickory 8 — Low emp., Housing, Retire. 19.5% 18.0% 8,501 0.34
Holt 8 — Pop. loss 9.8% 13.7% 4,254 0.30
Howard 3 — — 12.8% 13.9% 10,141 0.13
Howell 7 — — 21.4% 25.0% 40,168 0.31
Iron 9 — Pop. loss 20.7% 28.0% 9,482 0.38
Jackson 1 — Housing 13.8% 19.4% 717,021 0.06
Jasper 3 — — 18.4% 25.6% 123,532 0.15
Jefferson 1 — — 8.6% 10.8% 228,227 0.03
Johnson 4 — — 11.9% 10.4% 54,331 0.16
Knox 9 — Pop. loss 14.7% 14.9% 3,760 0.36
Laclede 6 — — 18.6% 25.5% 36,245 0.26
Lafayette 1 — — 9.7% 13.7% 32,974 0.04
Lawrence 6 — — 16.5% 24.7% 38,392 0.25
Lewis 9 — Low ed., Pop. loss 15.3% 16.5% 9,945 0.36
Lincoln 1 — — 10.7% 11.9% 61,636 0.04
Linn 9 — Pop. loss 16.2% 26.7% 11,850 0.36
Livingston 7 — — 12.2% 14.0% 14,330 0.27
Macon 7 — Pop. loss 10.0% 11.1% 15,163 0.27
Madison 9 — — 14.0% 21.9% 12,665 0.36
Maries 8 — — 14.9% 16.5% 8,435 0.32
Marion 7 — — 13.6% 14.0% 28,493 0.28
McDonald 8 — Low ed., Housing 17.2% 23.9% 23,492 0.33
Mercer 9 — — 14.7% 17.0% 3,501 0.36
Miller 6 — — 14.6% 19.0% 25,081 0.25
Mississippi 8 Yes Low emp., Low ed. 23.0% 28.8% 12,079 0.65
Moniteau 3 — — 10.4% 14.4% 15,303 0.12
Monroe 9 — Pop. loss 16.0% 17.4% 8,672 0.36
Montgomery 8 — — 14.5% 16.8% 11,422 0.32
Morgan 8 — Low ed., Retire. 17.0% 17.8% 21,430 0.33
New Madrid 9 — Low ed., Pop. loss 18.6% 21.4% 16,041 0.37
Newton 3 — — 13.4% 17.3% 59,490 0.13
Nodaway 6 — — 18.6% 19.6% 20,959 0.26
Oregon 9 Yes Low ed. 21.9% 35.8% 8,704 0.69
Osage 3 — — 10.1% 11.0% 13,379 0.12
Ozark 9 — Low ed. 21.7% 25.0% 8,773 0.39
Pemiscot 7 Yes Low emp., Low ed., Pop. loss, Housing 27.4% 34.2% 15,232 0.63
Perry 6 — — 11.0% 12.4% 18,947 0.23
Pettis 5 — — 13.4% 14.7% 43,205 0.20
Phelps 5 — Housing 17.2% 14.3% 44,948 0.22
Pike 8 — Low emp., Low ed. 16.3% 23.7% 17,623 0.33
Platte 1 — — 6.8% 8.3% 108,751 0.03
Polk 2 — — 17.9% 22.6% 32,109 0.11
Pulaski 5 — Low emp. 12.8% 15.5% 53,850 0.20
Putnam 9 — Pop. loss 16.2% 18.2% 4,675 0.36
Ralls 9 — — 12.6% 12.7% 10,394 0.35
Randolph 6 — — 15.8% 24.3% 24,524 0.25
Ray 1 — — 12.0% 15.4% 23,149 0.05
Reynolds 9 — — 17.9% 32.3% 6,058 0.37
Ripley 9 Yes — 19.7% 17.3% 10,755 0.68
Saline 7 — Pop. loss 14.7% 19.1% 23,177 0.28
Schuyler 9 — — 9.7% 4.1% 4,044 0.34
Scotland 9 — Low ed., Pop. loss 7.1% 5.6% 4,698 0.33
Scott 4 — Pop. loss 14.5% 19.3% 37,967 0.17
Shannon 9 Yes Housing 16.7% 17.7% 7,137 0.67
Shelby 9 — Pop. loss 15.6% 18.8% 6,011 0.36
St. Charles 1 — — 4.7% 5.2% 409,830 0.02
St. Clair 8 — — 16.3% 16.4% 9,451 0.33
St. Francois 4 — — 17.0% 18.4% 66,864 0.18
St. Louis 1 — — 9.6% 13.1% 996,618 0.04
St. Louis 1 — Pop. loss, Housing 19.8% 26.9% 293,109 0.08
Ste. Genevieve 8 — — 7.9% 8.6% 18,551 0.29
Stoddard 6 — Low ed. 17.0% 21.3% 28,547 0.26
Stone 6 — Retire. 14.0% 18.3% 31,697 0.24
Sullivan 9 — Low ed., Pop. loss 14.7% 19.3% 5,903 0.36
Taney 4 — Retire. 14.4% 19.8% 56,382 0.17
Texas 9 — Low emp., Housing 19.3% 25.7% 24,956 0.38
Vernon 6 — — 19.0% 27.9% 19,713 0.26
Warren 1 — — 9.3% 13.1% 36,467 0.04
Washington 8 — Low ed. 18.2% 24.6% 23,483 0.34
Wayne 9 Yes — 25.1% 35.9% 10,942 0.70
Webster 2 — — 16.1% 24.5% 39,868 0.10
Worth 9 — Low ed., Pop. loss 17.6% 34.8% 1,956 0.37
Wright 8 — Low ed. 17.6% 23.3% 18,722 0.33

Find a food pantry in Missouri

Search Missouri's 164 verified pantries, food banks, and meal programs — filtered by city, open-now status, and service type.

Missouri pantry directory

Missouri SNAP

Income limits, application steps, and EBT card details for residents of persistent-poverty counties and beyond.

Missouri SNAP guide

Emergency food help

National hotlines, 211 referrals, and same-day food options — critical in rural counties where the nearest pantry may be 30+ miles away.

Emergency food

Food deserts atlas

Rural poverty and low food access often overlap. Compare persistent-poverty counties to USDA's low-income / low-access food desert designations.

Missouri food deserts

Methodology

How we combined USDA ERS typology codes, the Rural-Urban Continuum, ACS poverty data, and PantryPath's own pantry directory — plus the risk-score formula.

Full methodology