Cities in Missouri by unemployed people, 2025

Kansas City, MO had the highest unemployed people of 30 cities in 2025, at 11,622. Nixa, MO had the lowest, at 470. The median was 853. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Highest11,622Kansas City, MO
Lowest470Nixa, MO
Median85330 cities

All cities, 2025

Kansas City, MO: 11,622 personsKansas City, MO11,622St. Louis, MO: 7,142 personsSt. Louis, MO7,142Springfield, MO: 3,457 personsSpringfield, MO3,457Independence, MO: 2,837 personsIndependence, MO2,837Columbia, MO: 2,474 personsColumbia, MO2,474Lee's Summit, MO: 1,964 personsLee's Summit, MO1,964O'Fallon, MO: 1,722 personsO'Fallon, MO1,722St. Charles, MO: 1,525 personsSt. Charles, MO1,525St. Joseph, MO: 1,374 personsSt. Joseph, MO1,374Florissant, MO: 1,307 personsFlorissant, MO1,307Blue Springs, MO: 1,285 personsBlue Springs, MO1,285St. Peters, MO: 1,197 personsSt. Peters, MO1,197Joplin, MO: 1,041 personsJoplin, MO1,041Chesterfield, MO: 899 personsChesterfield, MO899Wentzville, MO: 868 personsWentzville, MO868Cape Girardeau, MO: 838 personsCape Girardeau, MO838Raytown, MO: 757 personsRaytown, MO757Jefferson City, MO: 743 personsJefferson City, MO743University City, MO: 734 personsUniversity City, MO734Liberty, MO: 656 personsLiberty, MO656Wildwood, MO: 636 personsWildwood, MO636Grandview, MO: 630 personsGrandview, MO630Gladstone, MO: 606 personsGladstone, MO606Hazelwood, MO: 600 personsHazelwood, MO600Maryland Heights, MO: 591 personsMaryland Heights, MO591Ballwin, MO: 562 personsBallwin, MO562Kirkwood, MO: 523 personsKirkwood, MO523Belton, MO: 508 personsBelton, MO508Raymore, MO: 503 personsRaymore, MO503Nixa, MO: 470 personsNixa, MO470Kansas City, MO: 11,622 personsKansas City, MO11,622St. Louis, MO: 7,142 personsSt. Louis, MO7,142Springfield, MO: 3,457 personsSpringfield, MO3,457Independence, MO: 2,837 personsIndependence, MO2,837Columbia, MO: 2,474 personsColumbia, MO2,474Lee's Summit, MO: 1,964 personsLee's Summit, MO1,964O'Fallon, MO: 1,722 personsO'Fallon, MO1,722St. Charles, MO: 1,525 personsSt. Charles, MO1,525St. Joseph, MO: 1,374 personsSt. Joseph, MO1,374Florissant, MO: 1,307 personsFlorissant, MO1,307Blue Springs, MO: 1,285 personsBlue Springs, MO1,285St. Peters, MO: 1,197 personsSt. Peters, MO1,197Joplin, MO: 1,041 personsJoplin, MO1,041Chesterfield, MO: 899 personsChesterfield, MO899Wentzville, MO: 868 personsWentzville, MO868Cape Girardeau, MO: 838 personsCape Girardeau, MO838Raytown, MO: 757 personsRaytown, MO757Jefferson City, MO: 743 personsJefferson City, MO743University City, MO: 734 personsUniversity City, MO734Liberty, MO: 656 personsLiberty, MO656Wildwood, MO: 636 personsWildwood, MO636Grandview, MO: 630 personsGrandview, MO630Gladstone, MO: 606 personsGladstone, MO606Hazelwood, MO: 600 personsHazelwood, MO600Maryland Heights, MO: 591 personsMaryland Heights, MO591Ballwin, MO: 562 personsBallwin, MO562Kirkwood, MO: 523 personsKirkwood, MO523Belton, MO: 508 personsBelton, MO508Raymore, MO: 503 personsRaymore, MO503Nixa, MO: 470 personsNixa, MO470
persons. Source: BLS, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2025
persons
Change on 2024
1Kansas City, MO11,622+9.5%
2St. Louis, MO7,142+10.2%
3Springfield, MO3,457+11.7%
4Independence, MO2,837+9.8%
5Columbia, MO2,474+10%
6Lee's Summit, MO1,964+6.5%
7O'Fallon, MO1,722+11.4%
8St. Charles, MO1,525+12%
9St. Joseph, MO1,374+5.9%
10Florissant, MO1,307+13.4%
11Blue Springs, MO1,285+14.2%
12St. Peters, MO1,197+7.4%
13Joplin, MO1,041+7.5%
14Chesterfield, MO899+11.4%
15Wentzville, MO868+10.2%
16Cape Girardeau, MO838+11.6%
17Raytown, MO757+10.8%
18Jefferson City, MO743+2.1%
19University City, MO734+5.8%
20Liberty, MO656+16.3%
21Wildwood, MO636+8.7%
22Grandview, MO630+10.7%
23Gladstone, MO606+14.3%
24Hazelwood, MO600+11.5%
25Maryland Heights, MO591+7.7%
26Ballwin, MO562+10.2%
27Kirkwood, MO523+10.3%
28Belton, MO508+0.2%
29Raymore, MO503+14.3%
30Nixa, MO470+14.4%

Other periods

About this ranking

Residents with no job who were available for work and had looked for work in the previous four weeks, or were waiting to be recalled from a layoff, annual average.

More on how it is measured
  • People aged 16 and over by place of residence, from the Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
  • Active-duty military personnel and people living in institutions are excluded.

United States cities only for now. The survey definition, not a count of benefit claimants. BLS estimates cities by splitting county estimates with Census Bureau employment and population data and unemployment insurance claims, so city figures are less precise than state ones. BLS publishes cities of 25,000 or more, and smaller cities in New England.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the cities are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU25-29. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2026). Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average (Cities in Missouri by unemployed people, 2025) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU25-29

MLA 9

Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average, Cities in Missouri by unemployed people, 2025. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 30 Sept. 2026, https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU25-29. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/missouri-cities. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2026. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. Cities in Missouri by unemployed people, 2025. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU25-29. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/missouri-cities.

Harvard

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2026) Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average, Cities in Missouri by unemployed people, 2025 [Dataset]. Available at: https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU25-29, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/missouri-cities (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_cities_in_missouri_by_2025,
  author = {{U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics}},
  title = {{Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average: Cities in Missouri by unemployed people, 2025}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU25-29},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/missouri-cities. Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU25-29. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
TI  - Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average: Cities in Missouri by unemployed people, 2025
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/30
PB  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU25-29
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/missouri-cities
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/missouri-cities.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU25-29. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  - 
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Rank Cities in Missouri by unemployed people using official data, and cite the source.
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Questions

Which city has the highest unemployed people?

Kansas City, MO, with 11,622 in 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which city has the lowest unemployed people?

Nixa, MO, with 470 in 2025.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Unemployed people: other rankings

Cities in Missouri: more rankings