West Plains vs Willow Springs

A side-by-side comparison of West Plains and Willow Springs: population, income, housing, and more.

West Plains and Willow Springs are places in Missouri. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

West Plains has the higher population (12,341 vs 2,015 in Willow Springs). Willow Springs has the higher median household income ($43,125 vs $39,897 in West Plains). West Plains has the higher median home value ($158,700 vs $108,300 in Willow Springs).

Population, income & housing

	West Plains	Willow Springs
Population	12,341	2,015
Median age	34.2 yrs	39.0 yrs
Median household income	$39,897	$43,125
Median home value	$158,700	$108,300
Median gross rent	$762	$716
Housing units	5,571	978
Homeownership rate	48.2%	53.9%
Bachelor's degree or higher	17.7%	15.9%
Unemployment rate	4.5%	4.5%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	West Plains	Willow Springs
Population	12,233 → 12,341 (+0.9%)	2,225 → 2,015 (-9.4%)
Median household income	$36,865 → $39,897 (+8.2%)	$39,583 → $43,125 (+8.9%)
Median home value	$99,700 → $158,700 (+59.2%)	$89,500 → $108,300 (+21.0%)
Median gross rent	$624 → $762 (+22.1%)	$530 → $716 (+35.1%)

West Plains

Population

12,23312,341

Median household income

$36,865$39,897

Median home value

$99,700$158,700

Median gross rent

$624$762

Willow Springs

Population

2,2252,015

Median household income

$39,583$43,125

Median home value

$89,500$108,300

Median gross rent

$530$716

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	West Plains	Willow Springs
Under 5	7.1%	7.4%
5 to 17	18.7%	14.4%
18 to 24	9.1%	13.1%
25 to 34	16.1%	13.5%
35 to 44	11.0%	10.7%
45 to 54	11.0%	8.3%
55 to 64	9.7%	13.3%
65 to 74	7.7%	12.1%
75 and over	9.4%	7.1%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	West Plains	Willow Springs
White (non-Hispanic)	95.0%	89.5%
Black or African American	0.7%	2.5%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.1%
Asian	0.4%	0.2%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	2.0%
Two or more races	3.2%	3.5%
Hispanic or Latino	0.5%	2.1%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	West Plains	Willow Springs
No high school diploma	14.7%	22.3%
High school graduate	40.8%	30.3%
Some college or associate's	26.7%	31.4%
Bachelor's degree	10.7%	8.8%
Graduate or professional degree	7.0%	7.1%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	West Plains	Willow Springs
Drove alone	84.0%	71.3%
Carpooled	8.4%	22.8%
Public transit	0.0%	2.4%
Walked	1.0%	1.9%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	3.6%	1.1%
Other means	3.0%	0.5%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	West Plains	Willow Springs
1-unit, detached	70.4%	81.9%
1-unit, attached	2.4%	0.0%
2 to 4 units	13.2%	12.2%
5 to 19 units	7.9%	0.5%
20 or more units	3.2%	2.5%
Mobile home & other	3.0%	3.0%

Poverty & households

	West Plains	Willow Springs
Poverty rate	31.0%	18.7%
Average household size	2.38	2.40
Mean commute (minutes)	17	17
Median year structure built	1979	1959