Which Missouri counties score best for off-grid living?

Of the 114 Missouri counties we have scored, Washington County scores highest at 97 and Stone County lowest at 83. Missouri ranks 12th of 50 overall, at 90 out of 100 (Good with caveats). Hazard separates its counties most: 7 to 15 out of 15.

Updated 2026-09-27 · 114 counties · 565 spots of private rural land scored

Good with caveatsMissouri ranks 12th of 50, 90 out of 100, in the Best States ranking: the typical parcel on the state's private rural land, with each scored spot weighted by the land it stands for. On a fresh draw of counties it would rank between #8 and #15. City counties with little private rural land have no page, and any parcel can be scored, free, below.

Every scored county in Missouri, best score first

Find a county114 counties


Washington → 31 people / sq mi	97	25	20	14	14	14	10
Cedar → 31 people / sq mi	96	24	20	14	14	14	10
Cooper → 30 people / sq mi	96	24	20	14	14	14	10
Dade → 16 people / sq mi	96	22	20	14	15	15	10
Polk → 52 people / sq mi	96	23	20	14	14	15	10
Saline → 31 people / sq mi	96	24	20	13	14	15	10
St. Clair → 14 people / sq mi	96	23	20	14	15	14	10
Boone → 276 people / sq mi	95	25	20	13	15	13	9
Crawford → 31 people / sq mi	95	23	20	14	14	14	10
Franklin → 115 people / sq mi	95	22	20	14	14	15	10
Gasconade → 28 people / sq mi	95	22	20	14	15	14	10
Greene → 451 people / sq mi	95	23	20	14	14	14	10
Lawrence → 64 people / sq mi	95	21	20	15	14	15	10
Newton → 97 people / sq mi	95	23	20	15	13	14	10
Pulaski → 98 people / sq mi	95	24	20	14	15	14	8
Webster → 70 people / sq mi	95	23	20	14	14	14	10
Bates → 19 people / sq mi	94	21	20	14	14	15	10
Benton → 29 people / sq mi	94	22	20	14	14	14	10
Cass → 160 people / sq mi	94	21	20	14	14	15	10
Henry → 32 people / sq mi	94	22	20	14	14	14	10
Howell → 44 people / sq mi	94	22	20	14	14	14	10
Jasper → 196 people / sq mi	94	25	20	14	15	13	7
Maries → 16 people / sq mi	94	23	18	14	15	14	10
Pike → 27 people / sq mi	94	20	20	14	15	15	10
St. Francois → 148 people / sq mi	94	23	20	14	13	14	10
Barry → 45 people / sq mi	93	22	20	14	14	14	9
Callaway → 54 people / sq mi	93	23	19	14	14	13	10
Camden → 67 people / sq mi	93	22	19	14	14	14	10
Christian → 168 people / sq mi	93	21	20	14	14	14	10
Hickory → 22 people / sq mi	93	21	20	14	15	14	9
Holt → 9 people / sq mi	93	19	20	14	15	15	10
Howard → 22 people / sq mi	93	22	20	13	14	14	10
Jefferson → 352 people / sq mi	93	24	20	14	14	13	8
Lafayette → 53 people / sq mi	93	22	20	14	14	13	10
Morgan → 37 people / sq mi	93	23	18	14	14	14	10
Oregon → 11 people / sq mi	93	23	20	14	13	13	10
Shannon → 7 people / sq mi	93	23	19	14	14	13	10
Vernon → 24 people / sq mi	93	19	20	14	15	15	10
Warren → 88 people / sq mi	93	23	19	14	14	13	10
Wright → 29 people / sq mi	93	23	20	14	14	12	10
Atchison → 9 people / sq mi	92	19	19	14	15	15	10
Clay → 653 people / sq mi	92	19	20	14	14	15	10
Dallas → 33 people / sq mi	92	23	20	14	14	13	8
Jackson → 1189 people / sq mi	92	20	20	14	14	14	10
Lincoln → 103 people / sq mi	92	23	20	14	15	13	7
Moniteau → 37 people / sq mi	92	23	20	14	14	14	7
Phelps → 67 people / sq mi	92	23	20	14	14	14	7
Putnam → 9 people / sq mi	92	22	19	13	15	13	10
Ste. Genevieve → 37 people / sq mi	92	21	20	14	13	15	9
Sullivan → 9 people / sq mi	92	20	20	13	15	14	10
Texas → 22 people / sq mi	92	23	20	14	15	13	7
Buchanan → 203 people / sq mi	91	18	20	14	15	14	10
Carter → 11 people / sq mi	91	25	19	14	12	12	9
Daviess → 15 people / sq mi	91	20	20	14	14	13	10
Grundy → 23 people / sq mi	91	20	20	13	15	13	10
Harrison → 11 people / sq mi	91	19	20	13	15	14	10
Iron → 17 people / sq mi	91	24	20	14	12	12	9
Laclede → 48 people / sq mi	91	22	20	14	14	14	7
McDonald → 44 people / sq mi	91	19	20	15	14	13	10
Pettis → 64 people / sq mi	91	21	19	14	14	13	10
Reynolds → 7 people / sq mi	91	22	20	14	13	13	9
Cole → 197 people / sq mi	90	20	20	14	15	14	7
Dent → 20 people / sq mi	90	22	19	14	14	14	7
Douglas → 15 people / sq mi	90	21	19	14	15	12	9
Dunklin → 50 people / sq mi	90	25	20	13	10	13	9
Lewis → 19 people / sq mi	90	19	20	13	15	13	10
Miller → 43 people / sq mi	90	21	20	14	15	13	7
Montgomery → 21 people / sq mi	90	22	20	14	14	13	7
Ozark → 12 people / sq mi	90	22	20	14	15	12	7
Ralls → 22 people / sq mi	90	22	20	13	15	13	7
Randolph → 50 people / sq mi	90	22	20	13	15	13	7
Ripley → 17 people / sq mi	90	23	20	14	9	14	10
Worth → 7 people / sq mi	90	18	20	13	15	14	10
Audrain → 35 people / sq mi	89	21	19	14	15	13	7
Barton → 20 people / sq mi	89	18	20	14	14	13	10
Caldwell → 21 people / sq mi	89	18	20	14	14	13	10
Johnson → 66 people / sq mi	89	21	20	14	14	13	7
Linn → 19 people / sq mi	89	20	20	14	15	13	7
Marion → 65 people / sq mi	89	18	20	13	15	13	10
Monroe → 13 people / sq mi	89	20	20	14	15	13	7
Platte → 267 people / sq mi	89	17	20	14	14	14	10
Andrew → 42 people / sq mi	88	17	20	13	14	14	10
Carroll → 12 people / sq mi	88	20	20	14	14	13	7
DeKalb → 24 people / sq mi	88	16	20	14	15	13	10
Livingston → 27 people / sq mi	88	21	20	13	14	13	7
Mississippi → 29 people / sq mi	88	25	20	14	9	13	7
Osage → 22 people / sq mi	88	20	20	14	14	13	7
Pemiscot → 30 people / sq mi	88	23	20	14	11	13	7
Perry → 40 people / sq mi	88	20	20	14	10	14	10
Scott → 90 people / sq mi	88	25	20	14	8	12	9
St. Louis → 1943 people / sq mi	88	24	18	13	12	13	8
Stoddard → 35 people / sq mi	88	25	20	14	9	13	7
Adair → 44 people / sq mi	87	16	20	13	14	14	10
Butler → 60 people / sq mi	87	23	20	14	7	13	10
Chariton → 10 people / sq mi	87	20	20	13	14	13	7
Clark → 13 people / sq mi	87	21	19	13	14	13	7
Madison → 26 people / sq mi	87	21	19	14	11	13	9
New Madrid → 23 people / sq mi	87	23	20	14	10	13	7
Nodaway → 24 people / sq mi	87	16	20	13	15	13	10
Schuyler → 13 people / sq mi	87	16	20	13	15	13	10
Scotland → 11 people / sq mi	87	20	20	13	14	13	7
St. Charles → 743 people / sq mi	87	25	20	14	11	12	5
Cape Girardeau → 143 people / sq mi	86	20	19	14	8	15	10
Clinton → 51 people / sq mi	86	17	20	14	15	13	7
Gentry → 13 people / sq mi	86	15	19	13	15	14	10
Knox → 7 people / sq mi	86	17	19	13	14	13	10
Macon → 19 people / sq mi	86	19	20	13	14	13	7
Mercer → 8 people / sq mi	86	15	20	13	15	13	10
Shelby → 12 people / sq mi	86	18	20	14	14	13	7
Taney → 90 people / sq mi	86	21	20	14	14	11	6
Wayne → 14 people / sq mi	85	20	20	12	10	13	10
Ray → 41 people / sq mi	84	18	20	14	12	13	7
Bollinger → 17 people / sq mi	83	20	19	14	10	13	7
Stone → 70 people / sq mi	83	20	18	12	14	11	8

Score is out of 100: Water 25, Legal 20, Solar 15, Hazard 15, Food 15, Buildability 10. Green cells score 80% or better of their maximum; amber cells under 70%.

Where the good land is

96% of Missouri's private rural land scores Good with caveats or better (80 or more). The strongest counties are Washington, Cedar and Cooper. The weakest are Bollinger, Stone and Ray. Where the land falls short, it is most often on building (slope, septic and land price) and hazards (flood, fire, storms and earthquakes).

What separates them

Hazard: Dade County scores 15 of 15, Butler County 7. Flood, wildfire, seismic, and severe-weather exposure: the risks that raise insurance and build cost or strand a parcel.
Buildability: Washington County scores 10 of 10, St. Charles County 5. Slope, the septic the ground needs, footings, and the county's land price. A steep or soggy lot that fails a septic test is the dealbreaker photos hide.
Water: Washington County scores 25 of 25, Mercer County 15. Drinking, system, and irrigation water, the #1 reason off-grid and homestead plans collapse. A low score means a deep, costly well or hauled water.
Food: Dade County scores 15 of 15, Stone County 11. Soil quality, frost-free growing days, and rainfall: what decides whether you can actually feed yourself and your animals.
Solar: Lawrence County scores 15 of 15, Stone County 12. Year-round solar potential, including the darkest month, and how much energy it takes to heat and cool a house there. Matters most if you're fully off-grid.

Legal barely moves across the sample: the counties score within two points of each other there, so those are state-level facts, not county choices.

The state's soft spot

Water is Missouri's weakest dimension, at 21 of 25 for the state as a whole. Drinking, system, and irrigation water, the #1 reason off-grid and homestead plans collapse. A low score means a deep, costly well or hauled water. Getting a parcel here off-grid runs $30k to $137k by our estimates across these counties, before the house. The full Missouri row in the Best States ranking has the state-wide spread and how the popular off-grid guides rank it.

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Before you buy in Missouri

The scores read the physical land. Whether you may legally live on it is a separate question, and it changes at the county line: Is it legal to live off-grid in Missouri? covers zoning, building code, septic, and wells for the state, with the counties that opt out. For the reason water carries a quarter of the score, how you get water on off-grid land is the read. And the five-point check is the order to do it in.

Good with caveatsMissouri: 90 of 100, 12th of 50. A good state is not a good parcel. Score the one you are looking at, free, in about a minute.

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