The Springfield, Missouri, metropolitan area, as defined by the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, is an area consisting of five counties in southwestern

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

, anchored by the city of Springfield, the state's third largest city. Other primary population centers in the metro area include Nixa, Ozark,

Republic A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...

, Bolivar, Marshfield and Willard. Currently, the city limits of Springfield reach the Nixa, and Ozark city limits at the Christian County line on US 160, and US 65 respectively, the city limits of

at James River Freeway on the southwest side of the city, and the Strafford city limits on Route 744 on the northeast side of the city. As of the 2020 census, the MSA (Metropolitan Statistical Area) had a population of 475,432 and was the fastest growing metro area in the state of Missouri. The area is home to several centers for higher education, including

Missouri State University Missouri State University (MSU or MO State), formerly Southwest Missouri State University, is a public university in Springfield, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1905 as the Fourth District Normal School, it is the state's second-largest u ...

, Drury University and Southwest Baptist University. The Springfield region serves as the headquarters for various companies and organizations, including

Bass Pro Shops BPS Direct, LLC, trade name, doing business as Bass Pro Shops, is an American privately held sporting goods retailer that offers hunting, fishing, camping, and other related outdoor recreation equipment, marine manufacturing and sales, and outd ...

, BKD, LLP, O'Reilly Auto Parts, Jack Henry & Associates, Andy's Frozen Custard and CoxHealth, and also serves as an important location for

JPMorgan Chase JPMorgan Chase & Co. (stylized as JPMorganChase) is an American multinational financial services, finance corporation headquartered in New York City and incorporated in Delaware. It is List of largest banks in the United States, the largest ba ...

Expedia Expedia Inc. is an online travel agency owned by Expedia Group, based in Seattle. The website and mobile app can be used to book airline tickets, hotel reservations, car rentals, cruise ships, and vacation packages. Expedia.com was launched on ...

and

American Airlines American Airlines, Inc. is a major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, and is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the ...

. As of 2019, the Springfield metro had a GDP of US$20.8 billion, the third largest in Missouri.

Counties

Communities

Anchor cities

* Springfield Pop: 169,176 * Nixa Pop: 23,257 * Ozark Pop: 21,284

Places with 5,000 to 20,000 inhabitants

Pop: 18,750 * Bolivar Pop: 10,679 * Marshfield Pop: 7,458 * Willard Pop: 6,344 *

Battlefield A battlefield, battleground, or field of battle is the location of a present or historic battle involving ground warfare. It is commonly understood to be limited to the point of contact between opposing forces, though battles may involve troop ...

Pop: 5,990

Places with 1,000 to 5,000 inhabitants

* Rogersville Pop: 3,374 * Buffalo Pop: 3,290 * Clever Pop: 2,918 * Strafford Pop: 2,561 * Seymour Pop: 1,841 *

Sparta Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the Evrotas Valley, valley of Evrotas (river), Evrotas rive ...

Pop: 1,867 * Fair Grove Pop: 1,582 * Ash Grove Pop: 1,512 * Billings Pop: 1,084 * Fremont Hills Pop: 1,049

Places with 500 to 1,000 inhabitants

* Humansville Pop: 965 * Highlandville Pop: 963 * Fremont Hills Pop: 847 * Fordland Pop: 778 * Pleasant Hope Pop: 657 * Walnut Grove Pop: 652

Places with less than 500 inhabitants

Spokane Spokane ( ) is the most populous city in eastern Washington and the county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It lies along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south ...

Pop: 491 * Fair Play Pop: 422 * Niangua Pop: 390 * Urbana Pop: 387 * Morrisville Pop: 376 * Saddlebrooke Pop: 309 * Diggins Pop: 305 * Halfway Pop: 151 * Louisburg Pop: 134 * Flemington Pop: 110 * Aldrich Pop: 76 * Goodnight Pop: 18

Unincorporated places

* Boaz * Bois D'Arc *

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

* Bruner *

Celt The Celts ( , see Names of the Celts#Pronunciation, pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples ( ) were a collection of Indo-European languages, Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient Indo-European people, reached the apoge ...

* Chadwick *

Charity Charity may refer to: Common meanings * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sha ...

* Chestnutridge * Dunnegan * Ebenezer * Elkhead * Elkland * Eudora *

Garrison A garrison is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a military base or fortified military headquarters. A garrison is usually in a city ...

* Glidewell * Goodson * Keltner * Linden * Logan * Long Lane * Northview * Oak Grove Heights * Oldfield * Plano * Polk * Red Top * Red Top * Tin Town * Tunas * Turners * Windyville * Bradleyville * Brownbranch * Cape Fair * Carr Lane * Cedar Creek * Crossroads * Elsey * Hilda * Lampe * McClurg * Point Lookout * Ponce de Leon * Powersite * Protem * Reeds Spring Junction * Ridgedale * Rueter * Table Rock * Union City *

Viola The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...

(partial) * Walnut Shade

School systems

* Ash Grove R-IV School District * Billings R-IV School District * Bolivar R-1 School District * Chadwick School District * Clever R-V School District * Dallas Co. R-1 School District * Fair Grove R-10 School District * Fordland R-III School District * Greenwood Laboratory School * Hickory County R-1 School District * Logan-Rogersville R-VIII School District * Marion C Early R-V (Morrisville) School District
Marshfield R-I School District

Niangua R-V School District
* Nixa R-II School District * Ozark R-VI School District * Pleasant Hope R-VI School District * Republic R-III School District
Seymour R-II School District
* Spokane R-VII School District * Springfield Catholic Schools * Springfield R-12 School District * Strafford R-VI School District * Walnut Grove R-V School District * Willard R-2 School District

Economy

Springfield is the headquarters for O'Reilly Auto Parts, the only Fortune 500 company based in the region. It also houses the headquarters for

, CoxHealth, Andy's Frozen Custard, BKD, LLP and Jack Henry & Associates. The Springfield–Branson National Airport serves as a base for

and

Envoy Air Envoy Air Inc. is an American regional airline headquartered in Irving, Texas, in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of the American Airlines Group and it is paid by fellow group member American Airlines to sta ...

as the airline utilizes the airport as a maintenance base. Springfield is also an important region for call centers, with

, Chase and

AT&T AT&T Inc., an abbreviation for its predecessor's former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the w ...

maintaining call centers in the city.

Media

Springfield serves as the center of the Springfield media market, the 75th largest

media market A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area (DMA), television market area, or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same (or similar) television station, television and radio broadcasting, ra ...

in the country ranked amongst

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

and

Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

. There are nearly 430,000 television owning homes and a total population of 1,065,000 people.

Print

The main newspaper for the area is the Springfield News-Leader. The area is also served by the Springfield Business Journal and 417 magazine as well as its specialized magazines including 417 Biz. Surrounding areas are served by their own newspapers as well, Christian County communities are served by Headliner News, Marshfield by The Marshfield Mail, and Bolivar by the Herald Free-Press.

Broadcast

Television stations in the Springfield metro area include: * KYTV channel 3,

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

* KOLR channel 10, CBS * KYCW channel 15,

The CW The CW Network, LLC (commonly referred to as The CW or simply CW) is an American commercial broadcast television network which is controlled by Nexstar Media Group through a 75% ownership interest. The network's name is derived from the firs ...

* KOZK channel 21,

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

* KOZL channel 27,

MyNetworkTV MyNetworkTV (stylized as mynetworkTV; unofficially abbreviated MNT or MNTV) is an American commercial broadcast television syndication service and former television network owned by Fox Corporation, operated by its Fox Television Stations ...

KSPR KSPR-LD (channel 33) is a low-power broadcasting#Television, low-power television station in Springfield, Missouri, United States, affiliated with American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It is owned by Gray Media alongside NBC affiliate KYTV (TV st ...

channel 33, ABC * KRBK channel 49, Fox

Education

Secondary

Springfield Public Schools is the largest fully accredited school district in the State of Missouri with nearly 25,000 students and a graduation rate of roughly 88%. Nixa Public Schools, located just south of Springfield, is a growing district of 6,000 students that frequently ranks above the national average in ACT scores and has for the last ten years earned the highest state recognition for academic achievement given in Missouri. Other growing districts in the area are located in the cities of Ozark,

, Strafford, and Marshfield. Private schools in the area include the Greenwood Laboratory School in Springfield, located on the Missouri State campus, and the Summit Preparatory School, located near James River Freeway in Chesterfield Village. MissouriStateUniversityMeyerCarillon

There are also several private religious schools in the area, including Springfield Catholic and Springfield Lutheran.

Colleges and universities

in Springfield is the second largest university in the state with roughly 23,697 in 2019. Other universities in Springfield include Drury University, a private liberal arts college with more than 1,000 students, OTC with approximately 11,000 students, where students can earn a one-year certificate or a two-year associate degree, and

Evangel University Evangel University is a private Christian university and seminary in Springfield, Missouri, United States. It is affiliated with the Assemblies of God Christian denomination, which is also headquartered in Springfield. The campus sits on that ...

, a private Christian liberal arts university with more than 2,500 students.

Transportation

Principal Highways

* – East to

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

and west to

Tulsa Tulsa ( ) is the second-most-populous city in the state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tul ...

* – East to

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

and west to Monett * – South to

Little Rock Little Rock is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Arkansas, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The city's population was 202,591 as of the 2020 census. The six-county Central Arkan ...

and north to

Des Moines Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...

* – West to Wichita * – North to

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

* – Between Nixa and Ozark * – Between Strafford and Rogersville

Air

The area is served by Springfield-Branson National Airport which has direct flights on

Delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet * D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta"), the fourth letter in the Latin alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * Delta Air Lines, a major US carrier ...

, United, American and Allegiant to thirteen cities across the United States, including hubs such as

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, Charlotte and

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, among others. With over one million passengers per year prior to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, it is one of the fastest growing airports of its size in the country. A new terminal was opened at the airport in 2007 with 10 gates, expandable to 60, and runways can accommodate the

Boeing 747 The Boeing 747 is a long-range wide-body aircraft, wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2023. After the introduction of the Boeing 707, 707 in October 1958, Pan Am ...

and large military aircraft. Springfield has a secondary, smaller airport, Downtown Airport which is not served by any passenger airlines and is used mostly by smaller

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations except for commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services for other ...

airplanes.

Public transportation

Public transportation in the metropolitan area is focused primarily in Springfield. City Utilities of Springfield operates Springfield Transit Services, operating many buses on several different routes throughout the city, and bus service is available 365 days per year with less frequent weekend, holiday and evening routes.

Greenways

The area has a growing number of Greenway trails, 70 miles (112 km) run through parks and green areas, while 81 miles (130 km) are located on city streets. Such routes include The Link, which runs on local roads through the city of Springfield, and the

Trail of Tears The Trail of Tears was the forced displacement of about 60,000 people of the " Five Civilized Tribes" between 1830 and 1850, and the additional thousands of Native Americans and their black slaves within that were ethnically cleansed by the U ...

Link, while the Frisco Link connects Springfield with Bolivar to the north.

References

{{Missouri Metropolitan areas of Missouri