State bird
Eastern bluebird
Sources: Designation & background
Local timeJefferson City ·
U.S. States / Midwest · Card 025
Missouri
The Show Me State
Ozark National Scenic Riverways protects the Current and Jacks Fork rivers.
Missouri and its surroundings
● State capital · Gold highlights Missouri.
Map: Natural Earth. Neighboring states use postal abbreviations.
Map: Natural Earth. Neighboring states use postal abbreviations.
At a glance
- Capital
- Jefferson City
- Postal abbreviation
- MO
- Population
- 6,270,541July 1, 2025 · Census estimate
- Total area
- 180,540 km²69,707 square miles · land and water
- Statehood
- August 10, 1821State number 24
- Region
- Midwest
Sources: Census · population · Census · area
State symbols & traditions
State song
Missouri Waltz
Sources: Designation & background
State dessert
Ice cream cone
Sources: Designation & background
Geography & flag
01
Location
Neighboring states: Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Tennessee.
02
Landscape & places
Ozark National Scenic Riverways protects the Current and Jacks Fork rivers. Springs feed the river system, while caves, forested hills and rock outcrops show the connection between surface water and the underlying landscape.
03
Land and water
The total area includes 178,040 km² of land and 2,501 km² of water, according to Census area measurements.
State flag
Red, white and blue horizontal bands, with the state seal inside a ring of stars.
Sources: Census · geographic reference · Census · area measurements · National Park Service · Ozark
How the landscape works
Springs connect underground water with surface rivers. In the Ozarks, caves, rock, and flowing water therefore belong to a connected system rather than separate attractions. A spring-fed river can reveal something about the land beneath it. To understand a river corridor, look upstream and underground as well as along its visible banks.
History
Why Missouri’s admission caused a national crisis
When Missouri applied for statehood, the United States was divided over whether slavery could spread into new states. Adding Missouri as a slave state would alter the balance between free and slave states in the Senate. Legislators disagreed over whether Congress should restrict slavery as a condition of admission.
The compromise of 1820 linked Missouri’s path to statehood with Maine’s admission as a free state. It also prohibited slavery in much of the Louisiana Purchase north of a boundary at 36°30′, except Missouri. Missouri became a state in 1821. The agreement postponed a confrontation while leaving the underlying dispute over slavery’s expansion unresolved.
Read more: Historical source ↗
Why this mattered
Missouri’s proposed admission brought the slavery issue into the question of expanding the Union. The compromise paired Missouri as a slave state with Maine as a free state and set a restriction on slavery in other parts of the Louisiana Purchase. Maintaining a political balance did not resolve the moral and political conflict over slavery itself.
Key dates
-
Missouri Territory organized
-
Statehood · State number 24
-
Platte Purchase expanded the northwest boundary
Sources: Congressional Research Service · statehood · U.S. Census Bureau · historical geography · National Park Service
People and place
Indigenous history and communities today
The Osage Nation’s history includes Missouri and a much wider region, while its present government is based in Oklahoma. This illustrates why a map of current state boundaries cannot fully describe a Native nation’s history.
Continue with Osage Nation. This is one starting point, not a complete account of the peoples connected to this land.
Compare
Missouri and Arkansas
| Measure | Missouri | Arkansas |
|---|---|---|
| Population (2025) | 6,270,541 | 3,114,791 |
| Land area (km²) | 178,040 | 134,771 |
| People per km² of land | 35.2 | 23.1 |
Missouri has more people per square kilometer of land. Population density divides population by land area. It is an average across the whole jurisdiction, not a claim that residents are evenly spread out.
Calculated from the Census population series and land-area measurements used on these pages. Rounded figures; water area is excluded. Explore Arkansas.
Economy
Main activities
In 2025, professional and business services was the largest of the broad industry groups compared here by current-dollar output. Other major groups included real estate and rental and leasing, manufacturing, and educational services, health care, and social assistance.
Total economic output was $468.5 billion in current dollars in 2025.
Largest industry groups · 2025
- Professional and business services: 12.4%
- Real estate and rental and leasing: 12.3%
- Manufacturing: 11.0%
- Educational services, health care, and social assistance: 10.8%
Share of total current-dollar GDP. These figures measure output, not employment.
Sources: BEA · annual GDP by state, SAGDP2
Production, jobs and wages answer different questions
The industry chart measures the value of production. It does not count workers. An industry with a large share of GDP need not employ the most people or pay the highest wages. Employment and wage data would be needed to answer those questions.
Population & economic trends
Population, 2020–2025
Millions of people6.272025 · millions of people
July 1 resident population estimates, using the Census Bureau’s Vintage 2025 series.
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau
View data table
| Year | People |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 6,155,074 |
| 2021 | 6,172,551 |
| 2022 | 6,179,285 |
| 2023 | 6,205,956 |
| 2024 | 6,243,544 |
| 2025 | 6,270,541 |
Real GDP, 2010–2025
Billions of chained 2017 dollars357.972025 · billions of chained 2017 dollars
Real GDP measures economic output adjusted for inflation. The chart uses BEA’s chained 2017 dollars.
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
View data table
| Year | Millions of chained 2017 dollars |
|---|---|
| 2010 | 295,986.4 |
| 2011 | 292,984.2 |
| 2012 | 296,514.3 |
| 2013 | 302,025.7 |
| 2014 | 303,617.8 |
| 2015 | 308,009.9 |
| 2016 | 308,423.3 |
| 2017 | 311,273.8 |
| 2018 | 314,182.4 |
| 2019 | 321,329.1 |
| 2020 | 316,158.6 |
| 2021 | 331,578.0 |
| 2022 | 337,225.4 |
| 2023 | 346,895.3 |
| 2024 | 353,307.4 |
| 2025 | 357,965.8 |
Read the trend, then ask what explains it
Missouri’s population increased by about 1.9% between 2020 and 2025 in this series. That shows the size of the change. The chart alone cannot tell us how much came from births, deaths or migration.
Real GDP adjusts for changes in prices, so it helps compare production over time. Current-dollar GDP includes price changes. Neither measure tells us how income is distributed among residents.
Representation
- Electoral votes
- 102024 & 2028 elections
- Voting U.S. House seats
- 82020 Census allocation
- U.S. Senate seats
- 2
Electoral votes equal the state’s U.S. House seats plus its two U.S. Senate seats. These allocations apply to the 2024 and 2028 presidential elections.
Practice
Test your knowledge
Use the explanations and data on this page to answer ten questions. Hints and links to the relevant sections are available throughout.
10 questions about Missouri
Show a hint
Your place in the quiz and best full-quiz score are saved on this device when browser storage is available.
Want to practice recognizing states? Try the mixed-state map quiz.
Sources & notes
Narrative and quiz updated 5 October 2026. Statistical data prepared 27 September 2026. Population: Census Bureau Vintage 2025, July 1 estimates for 2020–2025. Real GDP: BEA annual state accounts, SAGDP9, millions of chained 2017 dollars; industry shares: SAGDP2, current dollars. Data downloaded 27 September 2026. Area measurements include land and water.
Sources: Census · population estimates · BEA · state GDP · Census · area measurements · Natural Earth · map data
The capital clock shows current local time. Statistical figures are dated estimates and may be revised.
Updated 29 October 2026. Statistics retain the dated series shown in the charts; these are not live figures. Sources are linked beside each topic.