We used data and science to identify which places in Missouri are total snoozefests.

This article is an opinion based on facts and is meant as infotainment. Don’t freak out.

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There’s no denying it: there are plenty of places in Missouri that are downright beautiful and full of excitement.

Unfortunately, not all towns and cities in MO are so lucky.

Just like in all U.S. States, there are definitely some boring places within Missouri’s borders. You know the places: the ones where everyone has an AARP card and the most exciting thing they do all day is post a picture of their grandchild on Facebook.

Like Ladue, for instance. In our latest analysis, we found that this city was the most boring city in all of Missouri. But don’t feel bad if you’re a resident of Ladue. There are plenty of other boring, lackluster places in Missouri as well.

Here they are. Try not to jump out of your seat with excitement:

Ladue Weldon Spring Town And Country Sunset Hills Wildwood Parkville Chesterfield Bridgeton Des Peres Dardenne Prairie

Before you get all upset if your city’s name is on the list, rest assured that we didn’t use personal opinion when it comes to what classifies a city or town as “boring” or “exciting”. We crunched actual numbers to figure out which towns are statistically more boring.


How we determined the boring cities in the Show Me State

To figure out how boring a place is, we rely on a complex algorithm that factors in things we generally think make people exciting, and then we figure out which cities have the least number of those exciting people. We get all of our data from the U.S. Census. Here are some of the things people tend to think of as making a city’s population boring:

% of Population Over 35 (higher is more boring)

% of Married Household (higher is more boring)

Average Age (higher is more boring)

% of Households With Kids (higher is more boring)

% of Households with People Over 65 (higher is more boring)

Population density (lower is more boring)

Then, our algorithm generates several lists of the cities that have plenty of residents with high rankings in all of these categories. After a crunching of the numbers, a list of all of the cities magically appears listing them from most boring to most exciting.

For this list, we used every Missouri city that qualified for our rankings based on having a population of at least 5,000 residents. This keeps us from prejudicing our rankings by including very small pockets of retired people.

Grab your rocker and hold on.


1. Ladue

Source: Public Domain

Population: 8,519

Average Age: 45.1

Married Households: 69.2%

Households With Kids: 40.3%

2. Weldon Spring

Source: Public Domain

Population: 5,482

Average Age: 51.2

Married Households: 69.7%

Households With Kids: 25.4%

3. Town And Country

Source: Public Domain

Population: 10,876

Average Age: 51.1

Married Households: 65.6%

Households With Kids: 29.8%

4. Sunset Hills

Source: Public Domain

Population: 8,497

Average Age: 49.1

Married Households: 59.2%

Households With Kids: 29.5%

5. Wildwood

Population: 35,568

Average Age: 41.5

Married Households: 68.7%

Households With Kids: 46.0%

6. Parkville

Population: 5,682

Average Age: 42.2

Married Households: 58.9%

Households With Kids: 41.7%

7. Chesterfield

Population: 47,568

Average Age: 46.3

Married Households: 63.1%

Households With Kids: 31.3%

8. Bridgeton

Population: 11,661

Average Age: 43.2

Married Households: 46.9%

Households With Kids: 31.0%

9. Des Peres

Source: Public Domain

Population: 8,403

Average Age: 46.7

Married Households: 67.2%

Households With Kids: 30.3%

10. Dardenne Prairie

Source: Public Domain

Population: 11,746

Average Age: 40.2

Married Households: 70.5%

Households With Kids: 44.1%

Now That You’re Asleep

On a list like this, there are usually no winners, but since Missouri isn’t necessarily the most boring state in the United States (barely), the cities on this list can at least take solace that there are, in fact, more boring cities in the country.

Just not these places.

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City Rank Population Average Age Married Households Households With Kids Ladue 1 8,519 45.1 69.2% 40.3% Weldon Spring 2 5,482 51.2 69.7% 25.4% Town and Country 3 10,876 51.1 65.6% 29.8% Sunset Hills 4 8,497 49.1 59.2% 29.5% Wildwood 5 35,568 41.5 68.7% 46.0% Parkville 6 5,682 42.2 58.9% 41.7% Chesterfield 7 47,568 46.3 63.1% 31.3% Bridgeton 8 11,661 43.2 46.9% 31.0% Des Peres 9 8,403 46.7 67.2% 30.3% Dardenne Prairie 10 11,746 40.2 70.5% 44.1% Ellisville 11 9,153 46.5 56.6% 29.3% Clinton 12 9,048 43.7 46.9% 30.2% Park Hills 13 8,721 37.2 59.5% 37.0% Smithville 14 8,602 36.5 63.8% 40.1% Branson 15 10,741 44.5 45.9% 21.4% Trenton 16 6,057 42.8 50.3% 22.9% Olivette 17 7,767 43.7 56.3% 32.0% Lake St. Louis 18 14,618 41.2 61.2% 34.5% Ballwin 19 30,427 40.2 61.5% 36.9% Glendale 20 5,913 40.0 70.0% 37.8% Eureka 21 10,270 37.4 55.9% 49.7% Raymore 22 19,330 38.0 59.4% 42.8% Macon 23 5,484 41.6 47.9% 28.8% Creve Coeur 24 17,817 43.2 58.0% 26.8% Arnold 25 20,945 40.0 58.1% 33.6% Crestwood 26 11,937 45.2 55.2% 27.7% Mexico 27 11,533 36.2 49.7% 33.8% Sikeston 28 16,511 37.3 47.5% 33.4% Kirkwood 29 27,541 44.5 55.8% 26.6% Richmond 30 5,746 38.1 47.7% 31.7% Lee’s Summit 31 91,758 36.9 58.5% 39.1% Carl Junction 32 7,446 34.9 59.6% 48.2% Webster Groves 33 23,022 40.6 55.4% 32.6% Jackson 34 13,999 38.2 55.3% 32.3% Washington 35 13,994 39.2 54.4% 33.4% Kearney 36 8,637 33.3 58.5% 46.0% Liberty 37 29,533 36.8 52.5% 36.3% Harrisonville 38 10,012 36.8 46.8% 37.6% Dexter 39 7,869 38.3 49.0% 29.4% Aurora 40 7,508 34.9 56.7% 35.4% Chillicothe 41 8,708 39.7 45.0% 28.9% Lebanon 42 14,558 36.9 44.5% 33.2% Willard 43 5,333 29.9 64.8% 46.7% Marshfield 44 6,714 34.8 47.0% 38.0% Excelsior Springs 45 11,308 35.9 47.4% 35.8% Carthage 46 14,301 32.5 46.9% 43.8% Kennett 47 11,138 38.2 46.8% 32.3% Monett 48 8,904 34.0 53.3% 36.7% Battlefield 49 5,647 34.8 65.8% 39.7% Pleasant Hill 50 8,122 33.7 54.9% 43.1% Nevada 51 8,653 37.4 38.1% 30.0% Hannibal 52 17,844 37.8 45.8% 30.3% Poplar Bluff 53 17,172 39.2 43.3% 28.4% Manchester 54 18,152 38.2 55.9% 32.8% Republic 55 15,002 32.6 59.0% 42.9% Desloge 56 5,013 40.9 47.4% 26.4% Perryville 57 8,264 35.4 51.6% 35.2% Waynesville 58 5,017 34.6 53.4% 34.9% Neosho 59 11,990 32.4 48.7% 33.5% Odessa 60 5,249 31.7 58.8% 43.7% Gladstone 61 25,755 40.3 48.8% 26.3% Blue Springs 62 52,776 36.0 56.0% 38.9% Festus 63 11,662 36.0 48.2% 36.0% Charleston 64 5,886 36.1 33.8% 32.9% Black Jack 65 6,913 38.0 29.9% 37.9% West Plains 66 12,125 34.6 48.3% 31.3% Independence 67 116,881 39.4 46.1% 28.5% Wentzville 68 30,334 32.7 66.3% 48.1% St. Peters 69 53,589 37.8 55.6% 33.1% Nixa 70 19,461 34.1 58.6% 43.8% Ozark 71 18,092 32.8 59.5% 41.7% Boonville 72 8,317 35.3 42.5% 31.8% Jefferson City 73 43,202 37.5 43.5% 30.7% Savannah 74 5,076 38.0 50.3% 30.0% O’Fallon 75 80,617 34.3 60.1% 44.8% Raytown 76 29,513 39.7 45.0% 31.5% Greenwood 77 5,249 31.1 61.6% 51.7% Sullivan 78 7,625 30.8 46.5% 35.3% Oak Grove 79 7,745 31.7 53.0% 45.6% Bowling Green 80 5,393 35.1 39.3% 39.2% Florissant 81 52,335 38.9 44.8% 30.7% Warrenton 82 7,934 30.7 45.2% 42.3% St. John 83 6,500 40.1 36.9% 37.6% Moberly 84 13,925 35.7 39.2% 32.6% Troy 85 10,833 32.5 50.0% 43.7% Shrewsbury 86 6,232 41.5 38.6% 17.6% Pacific 87 6,046 36.5 44.0% 30.3% Joplin 88 50,766 35.9 46.0% 28.7% Sedalia 89 21,402 35.6 46.5% 31.1% Belton 90 23,163 32.5 49.5% 41.7% Marshall 91 13,039 33.1 42.1% 33.8% Caruthersville 92 6,128 35.1 38.4% 30.3% Cameron 93 10,136 36.9 31.7% 29.7% St. Joseph 94 76,984 35.7 43.1% 31.5% Grain Valley 95 12,843 31.0 54.9% 48.0% Bolivar 96 10,398 29.8 45.3% 30.0% Union 97 10,347 35.0 46.6% 30.1% Farmington 98 16,886 36.8 41.2% 30.0% Bellefontaine Neighbors 99 10,849 36.6 34.1% 39.7% De Soto 100 6,451 34.5 34.1% 35.9% Webb City 101 10,983 31.5 43.7% 36.1% St. Charles 102 66,361 36.4 46.7% 28.8% Overland 103 16,041 36.4 41.6% 31.8% Hazelwood 104 25,691 34.9 42.6% 31.9% Fulton 105 12,750 31.9 33.5% 28.9% Valley Park 106 6,968 35.5 46.8% 28.7% Bonne Terre 107 6,975 34.5 25.5% 34.6% Richmond Heights 108 8,569 38.2 46.8% 19.6% Pevely 109 5,505 34.8 41.4% 29.1% University City 110 35,305 37.2 39.5% 23.9% Maryland Heights 111 27,432 35.3 45.5% 25.8% Kansas City 112 462,378 35.0 40.5% 29.4% St. Ann 113 13,011 36.8 38.7% 25.7% Grandview 114 24,673 33.2 43.0% 32.5% Ferguson 115 21,164 34.3 34.6% 35.2% Berkeley 116 9,106 31.4 30.8% 37.6% Cape Girardeau 117 38,296 31.9 42.6% 28.3% Jennings 118 14,755 34.6 26.3% 30.5% Dellwood 119 5,016 30.4 33.5% 49.7% Brentwood 120 8,031 36.0 43.5% 20.2% Clayton 121 15,862 33.4 44.5% 25.4% Springfield 122 161,189 32.9 37.8% 24.0% Maplewood 123 8,015 37.0 34.1% 16.1% Kirksville 124 17,520 23.8 31.2% 24.7% Rolla 125 19,672 26.0 35.1% 23.7% St. Louis 126 318,955 34.2 28.7% 24.4% Columbia 127 111,145 26.6 36.4% 26.8% Warrensburg 128 19,332 24.1 34.6% 27.0% Maryville 129 12,000 22.9 28.0% 17.3%

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