City with the Poorest Middle Class in Missouri Might Surprise You

I'm no economics expert so perhaps it should be no surprise that I was surprised at the city in Missouri that has the poorest middle class right now. But, I'm guessing there's at least a chance it might surprise you, too.

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Before you guess, here are some details on how 24/7 Wall St came up with the city with the poorest middle class in each state. They say they sampled 384 metro areas across the country and that included 8 in Missouri. They looked at the middle 20% of wage earners to decide who would be considered "middle class". The other factors baked into this ranking included median income and also college education which is where the Missouri choice gets interesting.

What is the city in Missouri with the poorest middle class for 2024?

24/7 Wall St says it's Joplin.

Here are the numbers they shared about Joplin. One stands out in particular:

Avg. household income among middle 20% of earners: $55,085 (Missouri: $65,334)
Middle-income range: $43,656 – $68,251 (Missouri: $51,607 – $80,613)
Median income among all households: $54,041 (Missouri: $64,811)
Adults with a bachelor’s degree or higher: 24.8% (Missouri: 32.2%)

That last one truly surprised me. Less than 1 in 4 of the middle class in Joplin, Missouri have a bachelor's degree from college. Interesting. I should add that I don't have a college degree either. Apparently saying strange things on the radio for more than 40 years doesn't require a diploma (yay, me).

Is it just me or does it seem they're drawing a conclusion that the lack of a college education means less earning power? Perhaps there's some truth to that, however I have always found some of the most successful people I know didn't get their success with a diploma, but with unbelievably hard work. I know that Joplin has had to overcome many things including the devastating tornado in 2011.

Check out the full ranking from 24/7 Wall St for more backstory on why the struggle is real (according to them) in Joplin, Missouri.