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 An economy is an area of th ...

, is an area consisting of five counties in southwestern

Missouri Missouri 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 is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

, anchored by the city of Springfield, the state's third largest city. Other primary population centers in the metro area include Nixa, Ozark, Republic, Bolivar, Marshfield and Willard. Currently, the city limits of Springfield reach the Ozark city limits at the Christian County line on US 65, the city limits of Republic 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, Drury University and Southwest Baptist University. The Springfield region serves as the headquarters for various companies and organizations, including Bass Pro Shops,

BKD, LLP BKD, LLP, formerly Baird, Kurtz & Dobson, was one of the largest U.S. accounting and advisory firms, providing consulting, tax, assurance and accounting outsourcing solutions to businesses, government entities, not-for-profit organizations and i ...

, O'Reilly Auto Parts, Jack Henry & Associates, Andy's Frozen Custard and CoxHealth, 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, the w ...

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, and ...

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 passenge ...

. As of 2019, the Springfield metro had a GDP of US$20.8 billion, the third largest in Missouri.

Counties

Communities

Anchor cities

* Springfield Pop: 169,176 * Nixa Pop: 23,257 * Ozark Pop: 21,284

Places with 5,000 to 20,000 inhabitants

* Republic 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 pop: 2,517 *

Forsyth Forsyth may refer to: Places Oceania * Forsyth Island, Queensland, Australia, one of the West Wellesley Islands (aka Forsyth Islands) * Forsyth Island, Tasmania, Australia * Forsyth Island (New Zealand), in the outer Marlborough Sounds of South Isl ...

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 locality ...

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 referred ...

Pop: 1,792 * Merriam Woods Pop: 1,742 * Fair Grove Pop: 1,582 * Ash Grove Pop: 1,512 *

Crane Crane or cranes may refer to: Common meanings * Crane (bird), a large, long-necked bird * Crane (machine), industrial machinery for lifting ** Crane (rail), a crane suited for use on railroads People and fictional characters * Crane (surname) ...

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, su ...

) Pop: 1,379 * Kissee Mills (

) Pop: 1,109 * Billings Pop: 1,083 *

Humansville Humansville is a city in Polk County, Missouri, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 1,048. It is part of the Springfield, Missouri Metropolitan Statistical Area. Carl Long is the current mayor, sworn in on October 7, ...

Pop: 1,036

Places with 500 to 1,000 inhabitants

* Highlandville Pop: 915 * Reeds Spring Pop: 886 *

Rockaway Beach Rockaway Beach may refer to: * "Rockaway Beach" (song), by the Ramones * Rockaway Beach, California * Rockaway Beach, Missouri * Rockaway Beach, Oregon * Rockaway Beach, Wisconsin * Rockaway Beach, Queens, New York City ** Rockaway Beach and Boa ...

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 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 cry ...

Pop: 422 * 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 Canada ...

(

) Pop: 177 *

Hurley Hurley may refer to: Places ;In the United Kingdom: * Hurley, Berkshire * Hurley, Warwickshire * Hurley Common, Warwickshire ;In the United States: * Hurley, Alabama * Hurley, Mississippi * Hurley, Missouri * Hurley, New Mexico * Hurley, New Y ...

Pop: 173 *

Halfway Halfway or Half Way may refer to: Places Canada *Halfway, New Brunswick, a community in Durham Parish * Halfway, Ontario, a community in Madawaska Valley Ireland *Halfway, County Cork, a village in the Republic of Ireland United Kingdom * Halfwa ...

Pop: 173 * Blue Eye Pop: 160 * Flemington Pop: 148 * Louisburg Pop: 122 *

Aldrich Aldrich may refer to: Places United States *Aldrich, Alabama, unincorporated community *Aldrich, Minnesota, city *Aldrich Township, Wadena County, Minnesota *Aldrich, Missouri, village People *Aldrich (surname), a surname (including a list of pe ...

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 to its east, Lower New York Bay to th ...

Pop: 73 * Goodnight Pop: 18

Unincorporated places

* Boaz * Bois D'Arc * Brighton * Bruner *

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 ancien ...

* 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 * Ch ...

* Chestnutridge * Dunnegan * Ebenezer * Elkhead * Elkland * Eudora * Garrison * Glidewell * Goodson * Keltner * Linden * Logan * 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, Missouri ...

* Red Top * Red Top *

* Tin Town * Tunas * Turners * Windyville * Bradleyville * Brownbranch * Cape Fair * Carr Lane * Cedar Creek * Crossroads * 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 * Britis ...

* 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) in the absence ...

* 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 O'Reilly Auto Parts, the only Fortune 500 company based in the region. It also houses the headquarters for Bass Pro Shops, CoxHealth, Andy's Frozen Custard,

and Jack Henry & Associates. 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 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 tel ...

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 in ...

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, Nebraska, Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. List of ...

and

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, and Yonkers, with a population of 211,328 at the 2020 United States census. Located i ...

. 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 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 {{Geodis, uscounty ...

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 *

KRBK KRBK (channel 49) is a television station licensed to Osage Beach, Missouri, United States, serving the Springfield, Missouri, Springfield area as an affiliate of the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox network. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alon ...

channel 5,

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 (or ''brush''). Twelv ...

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 affil ...

channel 10, CBS * KYCW channel 15,

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

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 Ozark, Republic, 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 st ...

in Springfield, located on the Missouri State campus, and the Summit Preparatory School, located near James River Freeway in Chesterfield Village. MissouriStateUniversityMeyerCarillon

There are also several private religious schools in the area, including Springfield Catholic and Springfield Lutheran.

Colleges and universities

Missouri State University in Springfield is the second largest university in the state with roughly 23,697 in 2019. Other universities in Springfield include Drury University, 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 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 with ...

* – East to Louisville 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 Moine ...

* – 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 ...

* – Between Nixa and Ozark * – Between Strafford and Rogersville

Air

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

Allegiant Allegiant may refer to: *Allegiant Air, an American airline *Allegiant Stadium Allegiant Stadium is a domed stadium located in Paradise, Nevada. It is the home stadium for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL), the ...

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 List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

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 498,71 ...

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...

and

Houston Houston (; ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in Texas, the Southern United States#Major cities, most populous city in the Southern United States, the List of United States cities by population, fourth-most pop ...

, 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 identified ...

, 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 service ...

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 The Bus is a service provided by the transit division of the City Utilities of Springfield, who also provide paratransit under the name Access Express. Background Formation Springfield City Council voted unanimously to purchase of the privat ...

, 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