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Towns / Missouri

Hillsboro, Missouri

Hillsboro is a small town of about 3,500 people in Jefferson County, Missouri. It's the county seat. Its population has held about steady since 2020. A typical home costs about 2.9 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 33 miles away as the crow flies.

County seat

Population
3,493
up 0.1% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$221,200
Jefferson County prices up 21% since 2022
Household income
$77,500
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, St. Louis area
95.1
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
10 miles
Crystal City, MO
To St. Louis
33 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 4.9% below the U.S. average in the St. Louis metro area.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 2.9 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood17 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 4.9 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 9.2 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town11 public schools: 3 elementary, 3 middle, 4 high schools and 1 other.
  • A hospital close byMercy Hospital Jefferson in Crystal City, about 10 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big citySt. Louis is about 33 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 Hillsboro 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
$221,200U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 21%Jefferson County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$973 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$77,500U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
71%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$1,852 a yearMissouri: $1,948
Homes built before 1940
1%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
16%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
0%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
95.1U.S. average = 100 (the St. Louis 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 21% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the St. Louis metro area, not Hillsboro 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
3,4932020: 3,490
Median age
30.8 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
11%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
27%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
16%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
9%U.S.: 6%
College students
8%share of all residents

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 (20%); arts, recreation, lodging and restaurants (14%); professional and business services (12%)
Unemployment rate
4%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
34 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
11%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
12%U.S.: 12%

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

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Mercy Hospital Jefferson, Crystal City, MO, about 10 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

11 public schools in Hillsboro, run by Hillsboro R-III and Grandview R-II.

Colleges in or next to town: Jefferson College (1,000 to 4,999 students).

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
80%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
98%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
22°F
July average high
88°F
Days 90°F or hotter
38 a year
Nights at or below freezing
105 a year
Rain and melted snow
44.7 inches a year
Snow
9 inches a year
Elevation
769 feet

Weather stations: Festus (9 miles away) and De Soto (7 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: Mercy Hospital Jefferson, St. Louis.

Jefferson County is in a metro area of 1 million people or more (USDA rural-urban code 1, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site25 miles
  • Ste. Genevieve National Historical Park34 miles
  • Gateway Arch National Park34 miles

Read about Hillsboro's history on Wikipedia.

Know Hillsboro?

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

  • Raintree Plantation, MO (unincorporated)2,047 people, 2 miles
  • Briarwood Estates, MO (unincorporated)307 people, 5 miles
  • Horine, MO (unincorporated)781 people, 8 miles
  • Cedar Hill Lakes, MO203 people, 8 miles
  • Olympian Village, MO710 people, 9 miles
  • Cedar Hill, MO (unincorporated)1,261 people, 9 miles
  • Summer Set, MO (unincorporated)1,236 people, 10 miles
  • Scotsdale, MO198 people, 11 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.