43.8% Inside, 56.2% Outside: The Reach of Jefferson City Across Missouri

By Marko Visic·Published 13 May 2026·Rank #40 of 50 states·↑ All 50 states

43.8% of Missouri’s population — about 2.71 M of 6.19 M residents — lives within 100 miles of Jefferson City. The other 56.2% — including Kansas City — sits beyond the circle.

A 100-mile geodesic radius around the Jefferson City, MO state capitol overlaid on Missouri. 43.8% of Missouri's population lives inside the dashed ring.

43.8%

of Missouri’s population within 100 miles of Jefferson City

2.71 M

residents inside the radius (of 6.19 M statewide)

11 mi

from Jefferson City to Missouri’s population centroid

#40

of 50 states ranked by capital-to-population centrality

Open this radius in the map → /tools/map-radius-tool · Jefferson City, MO · 100 mi
The link opens the SimpleMapLab Map Radius Tool with the 100-mile circle already drawn around the Jefferson City capitol. Change the radius to 50, 250, or any value to compare different framings.

Why this happened

Jefferson City was designated Missouri's capital in 1821, centrally located. Two centuries later, St. Louis and Kansas City are the population anchors, and Jefferson City sits between them — close to neither. The 100-mile radius from the capital reaches 43.8% of Missourians, mostly in central Missouri and the rural counties that span the I-70 corridor. St. Louis and Kansas City sit 136+ miles in opposite directions, both beyond the circle.

The biggest cities inside the 100-mile radius

The top 5 most-populous places (by aggregated ZIP code population) sitting inside the 100-mile circle around Jefferson City. Cities are listed by total population captured by ZIP centroids in the dataset.

#	City	Population in radius
1	Saint Louis	384,398
2	Columbia	159,304
3	Saint Charles	141,951
4	O'Fallon	101,735
5	Ballwin	91,586

The largest city outside the radius

Missouri’s most-populous city outside the 100-mile circle is Kansas City, sitting 136 miles from Jefferson City. The aggregated population of Kansas City’s ZIP codes alone — 604,475 residents — illustrates the gap between Missouri’s political seat and its population centre.

How Missouri compares

The states ranked closest to Missouri on this metric. Click any to compare the radius breakdown directly.

#39 Tennessee

Nashville · 44.2% pop. captured

#41 North Dakota

Bismarck · 35.3% pop. captured

#38 Montana

Helena · 45.1% pop. captured

#42 California

Sacramento · 31.0% pop. captured

#37 Mississippi

Jackson · 49.4% pop. captured

Draw it yourself

Open the 100-mile circle around Jefferson City →

The Map Radius Tool lets you change the radius (try 50 mi for an urban-suburban question or 250 mi for “a day’s drive”), drag the centre to compare Jefferson City’s reach with that of Saint Louis, or add a second circle for a side-by-side comparison.

More about Missouri

See the full breakdown of Missouri’s counties at /states/missouri/counties — population, area, median income, and county seat for every county, plus a labeled printable map. The companion study Loneliest town in Missouri identifies the state’s most isolated inhabited place — a natural complement to the centrality framing in this page.

Methodology (brief)

We took the lat/lng of the Missouri state capitol building (38.5767°, -92.1735°) and drew a 100-mile geodesic radius. For every ZIP code in Missouri, we tested whether the ZIP centroid falls inside; if so, its population counts. We then divide by Missouri’s total population to produce the percentage. The full methodology for all 50 states is on the hub page.

Suggested citation: SimpleMapLab (2026). 100 Miles Around Jefferson City: How Much of Missouri Is Inside? Part of the State Capital Radius study. Retrieved from https://www.simplemaplab.com/studies/state-capital-radius/missouri. Licensed under CC-BY 4.0.