Cities in Missouri by unemployed people

Kansas City, MO had the highest unemployed people of 27 cities in 2014, at 17,409. Kirkwood, MO had the lowest, at 666. The median was 1,250. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Highest17,409Kansas City, MO
Lowest666Kirkwood, MO
Median1,25027 cities

All cities, 2014

Kansas City, MO: 17,409 personsKansas City, MO17,409St. Louis, MO: 12,160 personsSt. Louis, MO12,160Independence, MO: 4,431 personsIndependence, MO4,431Springfield, MO: 4,388 personsSpringfield, MO4,388Columbia, MO: 2,756 personsColumbia, MO2,756Lee's Summit, MO: 2,547 personsLee's Summit, MO2,547St. Joseph, MO: 2,312 personsSt. Joseph, MO2,312O'Fallon, MO: 2,140 personsO'Fallon, MO2,140St. Charles, MO: 1,988 personsSt. Charles, MO1,988Florissant, MO: 1,866 personsFlorissant, MO1,866Blue Springs, MO: 1,776 personsBlue Springs, MO1,776St. Peters, MO: 1,587 personsSt. Peters, MO1,587Joplin, MO: 1,420 personsJoplin, MO1,420Raytown, MO: 1,250 personsRaytown, MO1,250Cape Girardeau, MO: 1,206 personsCape Girardeau, MO1,206Jefferson City, MO: 1,117 personsJefferson City, MO1,117University City, MO: 1,077 personsUniversity City, MO1,077Chesterfield, MO: 1,045 personsChesterfield, MO1,045Grandview, MO: 1,018 personsGrandview, MO1,018Hazelwood, MO: 928 personsHazelwood, MO928Gladstone, MO: 898 personsGladstone, MO898Liberty, MO: 853 personsLiberty, MO853Wentzville, MO: 841 personsWentzville, MO841Maryland Heights, MO: 822 personsMaryland Heights, MO822Wildwood, MO: 773 personsWildwood, MO773Ballwin, MO: 733 personsBallwin, MO733Kirkwood, MO: 666 personsKirkwood, MO666Kansas City, MO: 17,409 personsKansas City, MO17,409St. Louis, MO: 12,160 personsSt. Louis, MO12,160Independence, MO: 4,431 personsIndependence, MO4,431Springfield, MO: 4,388 personsSpringfield, MO4,388Columbia, MO: 2,756 personsColumbia, MO2,756Lee's Summit, MO: 2,547 personsLee's Summit, MO2,547St. Joseph, MO: 2,312 personsSt. Joseph, MO2,312O'Fallon, MO: 2,140 personsO'Fallon, MO2,140St. Charles, MO: 1,988 personsSt. Charles, MO1,988Florissant, MO: 1,866 personsFlorissant, MO1,866Blue Springs, MO: 1,776 personsBlue Springs, MO1,776St. Peters, MO: 1,587 personsSt. Peters, MO1,587Joplin, MO: 1,420 personsJoplin, MO1,420Raytown, MO: 1,250 personsRaytown, MO1,250Cape Girardeau, MO: 1,206 personsCape Girardeau, MO1,206Jefferson City, MO: 1,117 personsJefferson City, MO1,117University City, MO: 1,077 personsUniversity City, MO1,077Chesterfield, MO: 1,045 personsChesterfield, MO1,045Grandview, MO: 1,018 personsGrandview, MO1,018Hazelwood, MO: 928 personsHazelwood, MO928Gladstone, MO: 898 personsGladstone, MO898Liberty, MO: 853 personsLiberty, MO853Wentzville, MO: 841 personsWentzville, MO841Maryland Heights, MO: 822 personsMaryland Heights, MO822Wildwood, MO: 773 personsWildwood, MO773Ballwin, MO: 733 personsBallwin, MO733Kirkwood, MO: 666 personsKirkwood, MO666
persons. Source: BLS, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2014
persons
Change on 2013
1Kansas City, MO17,409-3.5%
2St. Louis, MO12,160-8.9%
3Independence, MO4,431+4.1%
4Springfield, MO4,388-7.9%
5Columbia, MO2,756-3.2%
6Lee's Summit, MO2,547+1.8%
7St. Joseph, MO2,312-5.4%
8O'Fallon, MO2,140+1.8%
9St. Charles, MO1,988-2.2%
10Florissant, MO1,866+5.4%
11Blue Springs, MO1,776+2.2%
12St. Peters, MO1,587-2.9%
13Joplin, MO1,420+0.4%
14Raytown, MO1,250+5.1%
15Cape Girardeau, MO1,206+0.5%
16Jefferson City, MO1,117+0.4%
17University City, MO1,077-3.2%
18Chesterfield, MO1,045-4.1%
19Grandview, MO1,018+3.9%
20Hazelwood, MO928-6%
21Gladstone, MO898-3.8%
22Liberty, MO853-9.4%
23Wentzville, MO841+14%
24Maryland Heights, MO822+0.9%
25Wildwood, MO773-6.8%
26Ballwin, MO733-0.9%
27Kirkwood, MO666-1.8%

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. 3 cities with data in other periods have no value for 2014 and are left out rather than filled from another source. 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.CurrentU10-14. 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, 2014) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU10-14

MLA 9

Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average, Cities in Missouri by unemployed people, 2014. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 30 Sept. 2026, https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU10-14. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/missouri-cities?period=2014. 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, 2014. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU10-14. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/missouri-cities?period=2014.

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, 2014 [Dataset]. Available at: https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU10-14, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/missouri-cities?period=2014 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_cities_in_missouri_by_2014,
  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, 2014}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU10-14},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/missouri-cities?period=2014. 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.CurrentU10-14. 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, 2014
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.CurrentU10-14
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/missouri-cities?period=2014
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/missouri-cities?period=2014.
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.CurrentU10-14. 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 17,409 in 2014, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which city has the lowest unemployed people?

Kirkwood, MO, with 666 in 2014.

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. 3 cities have no value for 2014 and are not ranked.

Unemployed people: other rankings

Cities in Missouri: more rankings