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Cuba, Missouri

Cuba is a small town of about 3,300 people in Crawford County, Missouri. It has grown about 4% since 2020. A typical home costs about 3 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 74 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
3,288
up 3.9% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$136,600
Crawford County prices up 21% since 2022
Household income
$45,916
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, rural Missouri
83.9
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
16 miles
Sullivan, MO
To St. Louis
74 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 16.1% below the U.S. average in the parts of Missouri outside metro areas.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 3 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhoodThe FBI has no 2025 figures for Cuba itself. Many small towns are patrolled by the county sheriff, so call the sheriff's office and ask what calls they get most.
  • Schools in town3 public schools: 1 elementary, 1 middle and 1 high school.
  • A hospital close byMissouri Baptist Sullivan Hospital in Sullivan, about 16 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big citySt. Louis is about 74 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 Cuba 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
$136,600U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 21%Crawford County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$744 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$45,916U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
37%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$548 a yearMissouri: $1,948
Homes built before 1940
4%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
12%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
1%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
83.9U.S. average = 100 (the parts of Missouri outside metro areas)

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 21% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the parts of Missouri outside metro areas, not Cuba 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
3,2882020: 3,164
Median age
40.4 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
17%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
23%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
10%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
18%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 (32%); manufacturing (25%); arts, recreation, lodging and restaurants (10%)
Unemployment rate
1%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
16 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
0%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
14%U.S.: 12%

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

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Missouri Baptist Sullivan Hospital, Sullivan, MO, about 16 miles away. It's a critical access hospital (a small rural hospital with 25 or fewer beds). Medicare gives it 2 of 5 stars.

Nearest general hospital: Phelps County Regional Medical Center, Rolla, MO, about 22 miles away. Medicare gives it 2 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

3 public schools in Cuba, run by Crawford Co. R-II.

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.

Internet

Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet
67%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
89%U.S.: 91%

Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.

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

Weather

January average low
19°F
July average high
88°F
Days 90°F or hotter
36 a year
Nights at or below freezing
141 a year
Rain and melted snow
43.9 inches a year
Snow
8 inches a year
Elevation
1,017 feet

Weather stations: Steelville 2 N (5 miles away) and Sullivan (18 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: Missouri Baptist Sullivan Hospital, O'Fallon, St. Louis.

Crawford County is outside any metro area, with fewer than 5,000 people in its towns, next to a metro area (USDA rural-urban code 8, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

8 places on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Uptown Cuba Historic District and the Wagon Wheel Motel, Cafe and Station.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Ozark National Scenic Riverways44 miles

Read about Cuba's history on Wikipedia.

Know Cuba?

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

  • Indian Lake, MO (unincorporated)1,135 people, 4 miles
  • Leasburg, MO318 people, 6 miles
  • West Sullivan, MO281 people, 14 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.