What salary do you need to live in Joplin, MO?

The cost side of living in Joplin

A one-bedroom in Joplin rents for a median of $630 a month, utilities the tenant pays included; a two-bedroom goes for $937 and a three-bedroom for $1,136. Over a full year, the two-bedroom median comes to $11,244.

Buying is the other half of the housing picture: owners put the median home in Joplin, MO-KS at $165,500. Against a median household income of $61,901, the ratio is 2.7× — one of the gentler home-price-to-income ratios in the country.

The Regional Price Parity, BEA's index of local prices with the US at 100, is 85.7 here. Below 100 means a paycheck stretches further: $100,000 in Joplin has the buying power of roughly $116,662 at national average prices.

Joplin: the pre-tax income for each grade

The salary lines for a two-bedroom household land at $17,000 for Tight, $40,000 for Okay and $80,000 for Comfortable. The gap between the Okay and Comfortable lines alone is $40,000, which says how much extra income it takes to make housing feel roomy here rather than merely workable.

The Royal grade is within reach at $221,000 a year, where both rent and the median home price look small next to income.

Each figure is the lowest income, to the next $1,000, at which the calculator itself would show that grade for a two-bedroom in Joplin.

Joplin at four common salaries

Take a $75,000 salary. In a one-bedroom the rent share is 10% and the score 69, Comfortable; in a three-bedroom the share rises to 18% and the score falls to 60, Okay.

Read down the two-bedroom column and the first Comfortable row is $100,000, consistent with the $80,000 line above.

How Joplin ranks among 387 metros

Out of 387 metros, Joplin has the 374th highest price parity and the 339th highest two-bedroom rent, which puts it in the bottom 10% on overall prices and in the bottom quarter on rent.

Next to Joplin on the national rent ranking: Lynchburg, VA ($938) and Farmington, NM ($936).

Joplin next to Missouri and similar metros

Statewide, Missouri's median two-bedroom rent is $1,027 and its median home value $230,300. Joplin's rent is −9% against that, and its home value −28%; the price parity is 85.7 versus 90.8 for the state. The metro also reaches into Kansas; it is compared with Missouri, home of its first-named principal city.

Scored the same way, the statewide figures turn Comfortable at $110,000, so Joplin needs $30,000 less than Missouri overall.

If Joplin is on your list, St. Joseph, MO-KS, Springfield, MO, and Cape Girardeau, MO-IL are the most similar Missouri metros by two-bedroom rent and price level; the table shows where each turns Comfortable.

Where the typical Joplin household lands

The median household in the metro earns $61,901 (ACS 2020-2024). Run through the calculator with two bedrooms, that scores 58, Okay. The Comfortable line is 29% above what the median household makes. Statewide, the Missouri median household ($70,702) grades Okay on the state's own medians. Household income can include more than one earner, so a single salary of the same size goes less far.

Treat every number here as a pre-tax, public-data estimate rather than financial advice.