West Plains is a somewhat small city located in the state of Missouri. With a population of 12,528 people and five associated neighborhoods, West Plains is the 69th largest community in Missouri.

Of important note, West Plains is also a city of artists. West Plains has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape West Plains’s character.

Also of interest is that West Plains has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.

Compared to the rest of the country, citizens of West Plains spend much less time in their cars: on average, their commute to work is only 16.33 minutes. This also means that noise and pollution levels in the city are less than they would otherwise be.

Being a small city, West Plains does not have a public transit system used by locals to get to and from work.

The citizens of West Plains are slightly better educated than the national average of 21.84% for all cities and towns, with 21.79% of adults in West Plains having a bachelor's degree or advanced degree.

The per capita income in West Plains in 2022 was $22,909, which is lower middle income relative to Missouri, and low income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $91,636 for a family of four. However, West Plains contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. West Plains also has one of the higher rates of people living in poverty in the nation, with 33.77% of its population below the federal poverty line.

The people who call West Plains home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of West Plains residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in West Plains include Irish, German, English, French, and European.

The most common language spoken in West Plains is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Polish.