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

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of th ...

, is an area consisting of five counties in southwestern

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

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

Ozark The Ozarks, also known as the Ozark Mountains, Ozark Highlands or Ozark Plateau, is a physiographic region in the U.S. states of Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma and the extreme southeastern corner of Kansas. The Ozarks cover a significant porti ...

Republic A republic () is a " state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th ...

, Bolivar, Marshfield and Willard. Currently, the city limits of Springfield reach the

city limits at the Christian County line on US 65, 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. Founded in 1905 as the Fourth District Normal School, it is the state's second largest university by enr ...

Drury University Drury University, formerly Drury College and originally Springfield College, is a private university in Springfield, Missouri. The university's mission statement describes itself as "church-related". It enrolls about 1,700 undergraduate and gra ...

and

Southwest Baptist University Southwest Baptist University (SBU) is a private Baptist university in Bolivar, Missouri. It is affiliated with the Missouri Baptist Convention, which is part of the Southern Baptist Convention. In 2019, it had a total enrollment of 3,280 student ...

. The Springfield region serves as the headquarters for various companies and organizations, including

Bass Pro Shops BPS Direct, L.L.C, doing business as Bass Pro Shops, is an American privately held retailer which specializes in hunting, fishing, camping, and other related outdoor recreation merchandise. With headquarters in Springfield, Missouri, Bass P ...

, BKD, LLP,

O'Reilly Auto Parts O’Reilly Automotive, Inc. is an American auto parts retailer that provides automotive aftermarket parts, tools, supplies, equipment, and accessories to professional service providers and do-it-yourself customers. Founded in 1957 by the O’Reil ...

Jack Henry & Associates Jack Henry & Associates, Inc. is an American technology company and payment processing service for the financial services industry. It serves more than 9,000 customers nationwide, and operates through three primary brands. Headquartered in Mone ...

Andy's Frozen Custard Andy's Frozen Custard is a chain of American frozen custard stores with locations in Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas. The com ...

and

CoxHealth CoxHealth is a six-hospital, 1,050 bed not-for-profit healthcare system headquartered in Springfield, Missouri. It serves a 25 county region of Southwest Missouri and Northwest Arkansas. CoxHealth is Springfield's largest employer, and the 7th lar ...

, and also serves as an important location for

JPMorgan Chase JPMorgan Chase & Co. is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered in New York City and incorporated in Delaware. As of 2022, JPMorgan Chase is the largest bank in the United States, t ...

Expedia Expedia Inc. is an online travel agency owned by Expedia Group, an American online travel shopping company based in Seattle. The website and mobile app can be used to book airline tickets, hotel reservations, car rentals, cruise ships, a ...

and

American Airlines American Airlines is a major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the largest airline in the world when measured by fleet size, scheduled passengers carried, and revenue passeng ...

. As of 2019, the Springfield metro had a

GDP Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjective nature this measure is ofte ...

of US$20.8 billion, the third largest in Missouri.

Counties

Communities

Anchor cities

* Springfield Pop: 169,176 * Nixa Pop: 23,257 *

Pop: 21,284

Places with 5,000 to 20,000 inhabitants

Pop: 18,750 * Bolivar Pop: 11,067 * 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 troops ...

Pop: 5,990

Places with 1,000 to 5,000 inhabitants

* Hollister Pop: 4,499 * Rogersville Pop: 3,374 * Buffalo Pop: 3,040 *

Clever Clever may refer to: People ;Given name * Clever Ikisikpo, Nigerian politician * Clever Lara (born 1952), Uruguayan artist ;Surname * Charles P. Clever (1830–1874), American politician * Edith Clever (born 1940), German actress * Todd Clever ( ...

pop: 2,517 * Forsyth Pop: 2,431 * Strafford Pop: 2,361 * Kimberling City Pop: 2,313 *

Seymour Seymour may refer to: Places Australia * Seymour, Victoria, a township * Electoral district of Seymour, a former electoral district in Victoria * Rural City of Seymour, a former local government area in Victoria * Seymour, Tasmania, a localit ...

Pop: 1,967 *

Sparta Sparta ( Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referr ...

Pop: 1,792 * Merriam Woods Pop: 1,742 * Fair Grove Pop: 1,582 * Ash Grove Pop: 1,512 * Crane Pop: 1,410 * Shell Knob (partial;

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, suc ...

) Pop: 1,379 * Kissee Mills (

) Pop: 1,109 *

Billings Billings is the largest city in the U.S. state of Montana, with a population of 117,116 as of the 2020 census. Located in the south-central portion of the state, it is the seat of Yellowstone County and the principal city of the Billings Metro ...

Pop: 1,083 * Humansville Pop: 1,036

Places with 500 to 1,000 inhabitants

* Highlandville Pop: 915 * Reeds Spring Pop: 886 * Rockaway Beach Pop: 857 * Fremont Hills Pop: 847 * Fordland Pop: 801 * Walnut Grove Pop: 723 * Pleasant Hope Pop: 614 * Bull Creek Pop: 590 * Indian Point Pop: 520

Places with less than 500 inhabitants

Fair Play Fair play or Fairplay usually refers to sportsmanship. Fair play or Fairplay may also refer to: Media * ''Fair Play'' (1925 film), an American silent film * ''Fair Play'', a 1972 TV movie starring Paul Ford * ''Fair Play'' (2014 film), a Czech ...

Pop: 475 *

Galena Galena, also called lead glance, is the natural mineral form of lead(II) sulfide (PbS). It is the most important ore of lead and an important source of silver. Galena is one of the most abundant and widely distributed sulfide minerals. It cr ...

Pop: 422 *

Urbana __NOTOC__ Urbana can refer to: Places Italy *Urbana, Italy United States *Urbana, Illinois **Urbana (conference), a Christian conference formerly held in Urbana, Illinois *Urbana, Indiana * Urbana, Iowa *Urbana, Kansas * Urbana, Maryland *Urbana, ...

Pop: 411 * Niangua Pop: 403 * Taneyville Pop: 398 * Morrisville Pop: 381 * Diggins Pop: 295 * Saddlebrooke Pop: 230 * McCord Bend Pop: 283 * Kirbyville Pop: 204 *

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

(

) Pop: 177 * Hurley Pop: 173 * Halfway Pop: 173 *

Blue Eye Eye color is a polygenic phenotypic character determined by two distinct factors: the pigmentation of the eye's iris and the frequency-dependence of the scattering of light by the turbid medium in the stroma of the iris. In humans, the pi ...

Pop: 160 * Flemington Pop: 148 * Louisburg Pop: 122 * Aldrich Pop: 80 *

Coney Island Coney Island is a peninsular neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, Manhattan Beach to its east, L ...

Pop: 73 * Goodnight Pop: 18

Unincorporated places

Boaz Boaz (; Hebrew: בֹּעַז ''Bōʿaz''; ) is a biblical figure appearing in the Book of Ruth in the Hebrew Bible and in the genealogies of Jesus in the New Testament and also the name of a pillar in the portico of the historic Temple in J ...

* Bois D'Arc *

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

Bruner Bruner is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Al Bruner (1923–1987), cofounder of Global TV * Bud Bruner (1907–1996), American boxing manager * Carlton Bruner (born 1972), American swimmer * Charlotte H. Bruner (1917–1999), ...

Celt The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient ...

* Chadwick *

Charity Charity may refer to: Giving * 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 sharing * C ...

* Chestnutridge * Dunnegan * Ebenezer * Elkhead * Elkland *

Eudora Eudora may refer to: Places * Eudora, Arkansas, a city * Eudora, Kansas, a city * Eudora Township, Douglas County, Kansas * Eudora, Mississippi, an unincorporated community * Eudora, Missouri, an unincorporated community Other * 217 Eudora, an as ...

Garrison A garrison (from the French ''garnison'', itself from the verb ''garnir'', "to equip") 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 mili ...

* Glidewell * Goodson * Keltner * Linden *

Logan Logan may refer to: Places * Mount Logan (disambiguation) Australia * Logan (Queensland electoral district), an electoral district in the Queensland Legislative Assembly * Logan, Victoria, small locality near St. Arnaud * Logan City, local gov ...

* Long Lane * Northview * Oak Grove Heights * Oldfield * Plano *

Polk Polk may refer to: People * James K. Polk, 11th president of the United States * Polk (name), other people with the name Places * Polk (CTA), a train station in Chicago, Illinois * Polk, Illinois, an unincorporated community * Polk, Missour ...

* Red Top * Red Top *

* Tin Town *

Tunas A tuna is a saltwater fish that belongs to the tribe Thunnini, a subgrouping of the Scombridae (mackerel) family. The Thunnini comprise 15 species across five genera, the sizes of which vary greatly, ranging from the bullet tuna (max length ...

Turners Turners (german: Turner) are members of German-American gymnastic clubs called Turnvereine. They promoted German culture, physical culture, and liberal politics. Turners, especially Francis Lieber, 1798–1872, were the leading sponsors of ...

* Windyville * Bradleyville * Brownbranch * Cape Fair * Carr Lane * Cedar Creek *

Crossroads Crossroads, crossroad, cross road or similar may refer to: * Crossroads (junction), where four roads meet Film and television Films * ''Crossroads'' (1928 film), a 1928 Japanese film by Teinosuke Kinugasa * ''Cross Roads'' (film), a 1930 Brit ...

* Elsey *

Hilda Hilda is one of several female given names derived from the name ''Hild'', formed from Old Norse , meaning 'battle'. Hild, a Nordic-German Bellona, was a Valkyrie who conveyed fallen warriors to Valhalla. Warfare was often called Hild's Game. ...

* Lampe * McClurg * Point Lookout *

Ponce de Leon Ponce may refer to: *Ponce (surname) * *Ponce, Puerto Rico, a city in Puerto Rico ** Ponce High School ** Ponce massacre, 1937 * USS ''Ponce'', several ships of the US Navy *Manuel Ponce, a Mexican composer active in the 20th century * British sl ...

* Powersite * Protem * Reeds Spring Junction * Ridgedale * Rueter * Table Rock * Union City *

Viola ; german: Bratsche , alt=Viola shown from the front and the side , image=Bratsche.jpg , caption= , background=string , hornbostel_sachs=321.322-71 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded by a bow , range= , related= *Violin family ...

(partial) * Walnut Shade

School systems

* 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 * Greenwood Laboratory School * Logan-Rogersville R-VIII School District * Marian C Early R-V (Morrisville) School District * Nixa R-II School District * Ozark R-VI School District * Pleasant Hope R-VI School District * Republic R-III 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

, the only Fortune 500 company based in the region. It also houses the headquarters for

, BKD, LLP and

. 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. The airline is a wholly owned subsidiary of the American Airlines Group and it is paid by fellow group member American Airl ...

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

Chase Chase or CHASE may refer to: Businesses * Chase Bank, a national bank based in New York City, New York * Chase Aircraft (1943–1954), a defunct American aircraft manufacturing company * Chase Coaches, a defunct bus operator in England * Chase C ...

and

AT&T AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile ...

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 and radio station offerings, and may also incl ...

in the country ranked amongst

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest ...

and

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...

. 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 ''Springfield News-Leader'' is the predominant newspaper for the city of Springfield, Missouri, and covers the Ozarks. The ''News-Leader'' has a daily circulation of 32,363 and a Sunday circulation of 51,402 as of September 2013. Sunday si ...

. 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 Christian County is the name of several counties in the United States: * Christian County, Illinois * Christian County, Kentucky * Christian County, Missouri Christian County is located in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Missouri. ...

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 English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

KRBK KRBK (channel 49) is a television station licensed to Osage Beach, Missouri, United States, serving the Springfield area as an affiliate of the Fox network. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside MyNetworkTV affiliate KOZL-TV (channel 27) ...

channel 5, Fox *

KOLR KOLR (channel 10) is a television station in Springfield, Missouri, United States, affiliated with CBS. It is owned by Mission Broadcasting, which maintains a local marketing agreement(LMA) with Nexstar Media Group, owner of MyNetworkTV affilia ...

channel 10,

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

* KYCW channel 15,

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

KOZK KOZK (channel 21) is a PBS member television station licensed to Springfield, Missouri, United States, owned by Missouri State University. The station's studios are located on the Missouri State University campus on National Avenue in southern Sp ...

channel 21, PBS * KOZL channel 27,

MyNetworkTV MyNetworkTV (unofficially abbreviated MyTV, MyNet, MNT or MNTV, and sometimes referred to as My Network) is an American commercial broadcast television syndication service and former television network owned by Fox Corporation, operated by its ...

* KSPR channel 33, ABC

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

, Strafford, and Marshfield. Private schools in the area include the

Greenwood Laboratory School Greenwood Laboratory School is a comprehensive K-12 laboratory school affiliated with, and located on the campus of, Missouri State University in Springfield, Missouri, United States. Enrollment The school has an enrollment of approximately 374 ...

in Springfield, located on the Missouri State campus, and the Summit Preparatory School, located near

James River Freeway James River Freeway is a freeway located largely on the south side of Springfield, Missouri. Its western terminus is at Interstate 44 (I-44) north of Brookline and its eastern terminus is at U.S. Route 65 (US 65) in southeastern Springfie ...

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

, a private liberal arts college with more than 1,000 students, and OTC with approximately 11,000 students, where students can earn a one-year certificate or a two-year associate degree.

Transportation

Principal Highways

* – East to

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

and west to

Tulsa Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region wit ...

* – East to

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

and west to Monett * – South to

Little Rock ( The "Little Rock") , government_type = Council-manager , leader_title = Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_party = D , leader_title2 = Council , leader_name2 ...

and north to

Des Moines Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines ...

* – 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 th ...

* – Between Nixa and

* – Between Strafford and Rogersville

Air

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

United United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

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

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

Dallas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

and

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 ...

, 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, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, 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 large, long-range wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2022. After introducing the 707 in October 1958, Pan Am wanted a jet times its size, ...

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 with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...

airplanes.

Public transportation

Public transportation in the metropolitan area is focused primarily in Springfield.

City Utilities of Springfield City Utilities of Springfield (CU) is a community-owned utility serving southwest Missouri with electricity, natural gas, water, telecommunications and transit services. CU provides service to over 106,000 customers. CU is responsible for the ge ...

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 an ethnic cleansing and forced displacement of approximately 60,000 people of the " Five Civilized Tribes" between 1830 and 1850 by the United States government. As part of the Indian removal, members of the Cherokee, ...

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

References

{{Missouri Metropolitan areas of Missouri