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 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, and Oklahoma, as well as a small area in the southeastern corner of Kansas. The Ozarks cov ...

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

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 Drury University, formerly Drury College and originally Springfield College, is a private university in Springfield, Missouri, United States. The university's mission statement describes itself as "church-related". It enrolls about 1,590 undergr ...

and

Southwest Baptist University Southwest Baptist University (SBU) is a private Baptist university in Bolivar, Missouri, United States. It is affiliated with the Missouri Baptist Convention, which is part of the Southern Baptist Convention. In 2023, it had a total enrollment ...

. 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 Forvis Mazars, LLP ranks among the U.S. top 10 public accounting firms, providing assurance, tax, and consulting services. In June 2024, Forvis Mazars Global network was formed between FORVIS and Mazars. Forvis Mazars is a member of the Praxity ...

O'Reilly Auto Parts O’Reilly Automotive, Inc., doing business as O’Reilly Auto Parts, is an American automotive part retailer that provides automotive parts, tools, supplies, equipment, and accessories to professional service providers and do-it-yourself custome ...

Jack Henry & Associates Jack Henry (JKHY) is a provider of financial technology solutions and payment processing services, mostly to community banks and credit unions. The company offers transaction processing, business process automation, and information management so ...

Andy's Frozen Custard Andy's Frozen Custard is the largest frozen custard-only chain in the United States, with more than 140 company-owned and franchised stores across 15 states. The company is headquartered in Springfield, Missouri, where the company is run by its ...

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 Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the total market value of all the final goods and services produced and rendered in a specific time period by a country or countries. GDP is often used to measure the economic performance o ...

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: 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 Buffalo most commonly refers to: * True buffalo or Bubalina, a subtribe of wild cattle, including most "Old World" buffalo, such as water buffalo * Bison, a genus of wild cattle, including the American buffalo * Buffalo, New York, a city in the n ...

Pop: 3,290 *

Clever Clever may refer to: People * Clever (musician), stage name of Joshua Tyler Huie (born 1985) Given name * Clever Ikisikpo, Nigerian politician * Clever Lara (born 1952), Uruguayan artist Surname * Charles P. Clever (1830–1874), American poli ...

Pop: 2,918 * Strafford Pop: 2,561 *

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

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 Billings is the most populous 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 Billin ...

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 Fordland is a city in southern Webster County, Missouri, United States. The population was 800 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Springfield, Missouri Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Fordland was platted in 1882, with its post offi ...

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 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 Jeru ...

Bois D'Arc ''Maclura pomifera'', commonly known as the Osage orange ( ), is a small deciduous tree or large shrub, native to the south-central United States. It typically grows about tall. The distinctive fruit, a multiple fruit that resembles an immatur ...

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 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), A ...

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 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 gove ...

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

Polk DNA polymerase kappa is a DNA polymerase that in humans is encoded by the ''POLK'' gene. It is involved in translesion synthesis DNA repair is a collection of processes by which a cell (biology), cell identifies and corrects damage to the ...

* Red Top * Red Top * Tin Town *

Tunas A tuna (: tunas or 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 bulle ...

Turners Turners (, ) 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 gymnastics as ...

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

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

* Elsey *

Hilda Hilda is one of several feminine 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 (streamer) (born 1991), French streamer *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 comp ...

* Powersite *

Protem ''Pro tempore'' (), abbreviated ''pro tem'' or ''p.t.'', is a Latin phrase which best translates to 'for the time being' in English. This phrase is often used to describe a person who acts as a ''locum tenens'' ('placeholder'). The phrase is a ...

* 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 Springfield Public Schools (SPS), also known as the Springfield R-12 School District, is a public school district headquartered in Springfield, Missouri, United States. With an official fall 2020 enrollment of 24,309 students attending 35 elem ...

* 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

, CoxHealth,

and

. The

Springfield–Branson National Airport Springfield–Branson National Airport (formerly Springfield–Greene County Airport, Springfield Municipal Airport, and Springfield–Branson Regional Airport) is northwest of Springfield, in Greene County, Missouri, United States. The airpo ...

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 Chase or CHASE may refer to: Businesses * Chase Bank, a national American financial institution * Chase UK, a British retail bank * Chase Aircraft (1943–1954), a defunct American aircraft manufacturer * Chase Coaches, a defunct bus operator in ...

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 ''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 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 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 affili ...

channel 10,

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

* 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 ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

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 ...

channel 49,

Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

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 Spring ...

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, 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

* – 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 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, p ...

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 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 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