Plan a stop at the Bass Pro Shops flagship store in Springfield, the Queen City of the Ozarks and self-described birthplace of Route 66, a real city of about 170,000 with a metro of about 500,000. The store sits alongside the Wonders of Wildlife aquarium and museum. Branson is about 40 miles south.
It is a good place to be if you like outdoors and unfussy comforts. Wilson's Creek National Battlefield, Fantastic Caverns, Dickerson Park Zoo and the botanical gardens all give visitors something to do, and Cardinals baseball at Hammons Field makes a fun summer night. Downtown, Park Central Square and Commercial Street are the revived, artsy parts, and Rountree and Walnut Street are charming places to live. Affordability is the main pitch, since housing and rent are well below national levels. The trade is safety: violent crime is more than double the national median, especially in parts of the north side, and vehicle break-ins are common. Springtime brings tornado and hail risk, and winters can bring ice.
Cities with a similar character, anywhere on the site.
Out of 10. Open any score to see how it’s worked out. “Data-based” scores come from published figures; “Hey! En Route estimate” scores are worked out from what we know about the city; “Hey! En Route rating” scores were set by our editors.
- Known as
- Queen City of the Ozarks; Birthplace of Route 66; SpringMO; SpringVegas; Queen City
- Founded
- 1830 first settled; 1838 incorporated
- Languages
- English; Spanish; Marshallese and Vietnamese communities
- Airports
- Springfield-Branson National Airport (SGF), about 7 miles northwest of downtown; Branson Airport (BKG) about 50 miles; Joplin Regional (JLN) about 70 miles; Northwest Arkansas National (XNA) about 110 miles; Kansas City (MCI) about 200 miles
- Tipping
- Restaurants 18-20% for table service; bars $1-2 per drink; taxis and rideshare 15-20%; hotel housekeeping $3-5 per night; bellhops $1-2 per bag; delivery 15-20%; barbers and salons 15-20%
About this data
Population: Census Bureau July 1 2025 estimates (city 169,847 per QuickFacts; MSA 500,694 via FRED and Wikipedia). Area, elevation, founding, coordinates from Wikipedia (1830 first-settled year is from general knowledge, not verified in this pass). Crime from NeighborhoodScout (2024 FBI data). Home value and rent are ACS 2020-2024 medians. Hotel rates, budget, cost of living index and tipping are approximate estimates, not verified against a current source. Event months are typical and should be confirmed
