Springfield , Missouri is home to well over 151,000 residents who enjoy the big city amenities with a small town feel. Neighbors still stop to help change a tire at the roadside and yet the mall is only a block away. The roadsides circa 1865 were a bit different than the modern day highways that sprawl across, in and out and around Springfield nowadays. But the city has always been a central location to comers and goers who might stop for a bit and rest for the night. In fact, over 2.2 million people stay overnight or longer in a local hotel or bed and breakfast when they stop in the 65803 area. Whether or not futuristic vehicles that run solely on corn oil are in the future, one thing remains constant – Springfield , Missouri will be a necessary and integral part of the transit system of the nation. It is, after all, The Birthplace of Route 66.

The city also has an airport which has over 30 flights per day and is among the fastest growing airports in the Unites States. The airport served the Springfield 65803 area and the Branson area.

Of the some 151,000 or more residents who call Springfield home, 90.5 percent of them are White, 2.3 percent are Latino or Hispanic, 3.3 percent are Black, 1.4 percent are Asian and 1.8 percent claim other, or more than one ethnicity. The median age for Springfield , Missouri is 33 years.

The median household income for Springfield , MO is $36,736, which is more than $14,400 less than the national average. However, Springfield consistently ranks 10 percent lower than the national average for the cost of living.

The Springfield , Missouri metro area spreads over Greene, Christian, Webster, Polk and Dallas counties. The metro area has a population of over 420,000 residents who all blend together to contribute to the Springfield , MO metro economy.

Springfield has kept the neighborly feel that brought settlers to found the town just 17 years after Missouri entered in the United States as part of the Louisiana Purchase.  Missouri served as a jumping off point for settlers traveling from the cities and towns in the East to the uncharted West. It was because of this entryway that Missouri earned the name The Gateway to the West. Today, an arch stands in St. Louis to pay tribute to this rich history.

Springfield still serves as a jumping off point, of sorts, for many college students whose dreams begin to form in the halls of some of the state’s finest universities. Springfield has over 25 colleges, universities and community colleges in the 65803 area with over 44,000 students attending a college or university in the metro area.

Of the colleges in the Springfield area, many of them are theological, seminary or religious based schools. The city is also home of a large religious denomination headquarters. Springfield is in the heart of what some refer to as The Bible Belt, which refers to a socially conservative culture, who are primarily protestant. The term was coined by a journalist from Chicago, Illinois in 1924, and is still applicable to the southern region of the United States. In comparison, only 6 percent of the population in some southern states claim to be non-religious, compared with over 25 percent in some northern, coastal states.

The public school system in Springfield , Missouri has over 51 schools for grades K through 12, with over 18,700 students enrolled. The average student teacher ratio for the whole of the public school system is roughly 17 students to every 1 teacher. However, the public high school system has an average student to teacher ratio of more than 20 to 1. The high number of students to teachers does not provide an ideal learning environment, as many other comparable cities maintain a much lower ration. Nearly 60 percent of the teachers employed by the 65803 public schools have a Masters Degree or higher and the average salary for a teacher in Springfield , Missouri is $38,065. Many teachers have 14 or more years of teaching experience.

Springfield , Missouri also has 15 private schools with over 2,540 students enrolled and the student to teacher ration is a little lower than 14 to 1. However the private high school student to teacher ratio is an impressive, and very inspiring, 9 to 1.

College students and families with school aged children enjoy the many free sites and attractions that the Springfield area has, such as many parks, lakes, galleries, historic sites and more.

The park and recreation program in the 65803 area offers residents of any age outdoor activates for every season. Some of the parks include an aquatic park with certified lifeguards, senior programs, Japanese gardens and the future brings a dog park, where puppies can run unleashed. Some of the activities that residents of Springfield , Missouri enjoy are painting classes, dance lessons, bingo, ceramics, live bands, basketball, baseball and softball, swimming and more.

Springfield has many historical places, such as historical churches, theaters, cemeteries, chapels, battlefields and even a shrine mosque, which has an arabesque design. The city also has an historical district. The historic district is filled with pristinely preserved and restored homes with beautifully crisp landscaping, each representative of a bygone era. 

The surrounding areas of Springfield , Missouri also draw tourists from across the United States and the world. Branson Missouri is only 30 miles from 65803, as the crow flies. Branson has many shows, attractions, scenic views and resorts all along lakes and rivers held in the palm of the Ozarks.

While the population of Branson, Missouri is only around 6,000 residents, the number of tourists who frequent Branson during any given year are many, many times the number of residents. Branson is best known for the over 100 shows and 50 theaters, museums, lakes, golf courses, amusement parks, mini-golf and go-karts, resorts and timeshares, water park, wineries and other iconic attractions.

You may think that the city is somewhat of a ghost town during the off season. However, the town has done a great job of drawing winter time visitors with the millions of Christmas lights that the town puts on display, which are a wonder to see.

Branson and Springfield are much different, in that Branson is mostly sustained from the top tourist location is has earned, whereas Springfield is unlike many college towns, which rely heavily on the employment of local universities.

In fact, in Springfield , the health care industry is a large employer to the area with over 30,000 employees and approximately 15 percent of the 65803 area’s workforce. After the health care industry, the manufacturing industry is the next largest with over 17,000 jobs available to the area. The trucking industry also uses Springfield , MO as a distributing hub because of the city’s central location in the United States. The trucking industry in the 65803 region brings an annual economic impact of more than $14 billion.

Springfield is also the headquarters of many national retail and hotel firms.

In 2008, Springfield , Missouri was ranked as number 10 on a list of the worst places to raise a family in the United States. The ranking was awarded the city based on accumulation of factors such as poor student to teacher ratios, below average test scores, poor budgets, expensive housing and high divorce rates within the area. To the contrary, Springfield , Illinois was ranked in the top 20 cities to raise a family based on all the above mentioned factors. The highest ranking city in which to raise a family in the US was Honolulu, Hawaii.

Interestingly, Springfield has passed laws prohibiting smoking in restaurants, with a few exceptions. This comes from a city surrounded by rural country farmland where personal rights tend to cling to the right to bear arms and pursue life, liberty and justice. Such a smoking ban is controversial in other Missouri towns, like Columbia, Missouri , which has a smoking ban in any public place.

Similarly, the city recently passed a law which prohibited patrons under the age of 21 from entering a bar. College students in the area protested on the basis that many live music venues were eliminated and objected on the premise that the underage college students served as designated drivers to their older, and drunken, schoolmates.