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Auxvasse, Missouri

Auxvasse is a small town of about 1,000 people in Callaway County, Missouri. It has grown about 3% since 2020. A typical home costs about 2.4 years of the typical household's income, compared with 4.1 across the U.S. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, St. Louis, is about 93 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
1,029
up 2.6% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$132,600
Callaway County prices up 24% since 2022
Household income
$56,307
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Jefferson City area
88
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
23 miles
Columbia, MO
To St. Louis
93 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 12% below the U.S. average in the Jefferson City metro area.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 2.4 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood1 violent crime was reported in 2025, about 1 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 7.8 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town1 public school. No public high school in town: the nearest is North Callaway High, about 4 miles away.
  • A hospital close byBoone Hospital Center in Columbia, about 23 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big citySt. Louis is about 93 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Auxvasse meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$132,600U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 24%Callaway County, 2022 to 2025
Typical household income
$56,307U.S.: $80,734
Typical property tax bill
$1,416 a yearMissouri: $1,948
Homes built since 2010
2%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
0%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
88U.S. average = 100 (the Jefferson City metro area)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 24% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Jefferson City metro area, not Auxvasse alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2025 estimate
1,0292020: 1,003
Median age
28.2 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
7%U.S.: 17%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
28%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
1%U.S.: 6%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Schools, health care and social services (16%); construction (11%)
Work from home
4%U.S.: 15%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Boone Hospital Center, Columbia, MO, about 23 miles away. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 4 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

1 public school in Auxvasse, run by North Callaway Co. R-I. The nearest public high school is North Callaway High, about 4 miles away.

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on Missouri's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Weather

January average low
19°F
July average high
88°F
Days 90°F or hotter
38 a year
Nights at or below freezing
113 a year
Rain and melted snow
44.3 inches a year
Snow
19 inches a year
Elevation
864 feet

Weather stations: Mexico (11 miles away) and Fulton (12 miles away, rain and snow). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Boone Hospital Center, Columbia, St. Louis.

Callaway County is in a metro area of fewer than 250,000 people (USDA rural-urban code 3, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

Read about Auxvasse's history on Wikipedia.

Know Auxvasse?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Smaller places

  • Kingdom City, MO135 people, 5 miles
  • Benton City, MO107 people, 11 miles
  • Martinsburg, MO256 people, 15 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.