Missouri Featured Real Estate Market Areas and Agents
A large Midwestern state with a 5.8 million-person population, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the U.S. It is made up of 114 counties and one independent city, St. Louis and is bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. Missouri is one of only two states, the other being Tennessee, to border as many as eight others. The "Show Me" state, as it is often referred to, was originally acquired by the U.S. when it purchased it as part of the Louisiana Purchase from France, upon which it became the Missouri Territory. It became the 24th state of the union in 1821. The state's capital is Jefferson City, and its largest cities are St. Louis, Kansas City, Springfield, and Columbia, with more than half of Missourians residing in either the St. Louis and Kansas City metropolitan areas. Branson is also a popular tourist destination in Ozarks. The geography is varied, with the northern part of the state mostly plains, the middle of the state divided by the Missouri River, and the southern part of the state in the Ozark Mountains. Most of the state has cold winters and hot, humid summers.
There are a number of successful industries propelling the state's economy, ranging from varied fields as aerospace, transportation equipment and food processing to chemicals, printing/publishing, electrical equipment, light manufacturing and beer. Agriculture is a big part of the economy, with beef, soybeans, pork, dairy products, hay, corn, poultry and eggs produced in large quantities. The state is sixth in the nation for hog production and seventh for cattle. As of 2001, the state had the second largest number of farms of any state, after only Texas. Missouri produces the most lead of all states and is the only state with two Federal Reserve Banks: one in Kansas City and one in St. Louis. There are two major airport hubs here: Lambert-St. Louis International Airport and Kansas City International Airport. State schools include the flagship University of Missouri in Columbia, the University of Missouri-Kansas City, University of Missouri-St. Louis, and Missouri University of Science and Technology. Notable private institutions include Washington University in St. Louis and Saint Louis University. Professional sports teams in Missour include the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team and St. Louis Rams football team, and the Kansas Chiefs (football) and Royals (baseball).
