Fastest-Growing Town in Missouri Isn't Near St. Louis or KC

It used to be an easy answer. If you wanted to find the fastest-growing town in Missouri, just look at the suburbs of St. Louis or Kansas City, but not anymore. The place in the state experiencing the fastest growth right now isn't close to either of those metros.

I came across an interesting read from World Atlas as they were taking a look at the places in Missouri where residents are moving to the most and number one on their list caught me by surprise. If I gave you 5 guesses, my guess is you'd be like me and be wrong.

The study said that Republic, Missouri has become one of the fastest-growing towns in the state where the population has jumped a 20.3% jump in just the past 5 years. If you're familiar with Republic, you know it's just to the southwest of Springfield. As I was looking at Places Rated, I could see why the growth in Republic has been exponential. The median cost for buying or renting a home is nearly 50% lower than the national average.

But what about crime?

Neighborhood Scout doesn't give Republic, Missouri glowing reviews, but it's not as bad as most of the state. The chance of being a victim of violent crime in Republic is about 4 times less likely than the rest of Missouri. Property crime is almost half of the Missouri state average.

When you look at the very low housing costs and the relatively low crime rates compared to the rest of Missouri, you can see why Republic is suddenly one of the fastest-growing places to call home in the state.