Barry County, Missouri

Barry County is a county in Missouri, United States, in the southwestern Ozarks about 45 miles
south of Springfield. It had a population of 34,534 at the 2020 census, an estimated 36,200 by
2025, and covers 791 square miles (2,050 km2) centred near 36°43′N 93°50′W.

Cassville is the county seat; its postal code is 65625. The county holds 8 incorporated cities,
several smaller unincorporated communities, and 25 civil townships, and it runs on Central Time.
Its FIPS code is 29009.

Towns & Villages in Barry County

Barry County has 13 named places on record here: 8 incorporated cities and towns, 3 census
designated places, and 2 unincorporated communities with no local government of their own. CDP
stands for census designated place; Unincorp. covers crossroads and rural communities with no
formal boundary.

Two places on this list sit on county lines. Monett, the county’s largest city, is the
most-populous city in both Barry and Lawrence counties — its population figure is citywide
and includes residents on the Lawrence County side. Pierce City runs the same way: Wikipedia
describes it as a city in southwest Lawrence and northwest Barry counties, so its 1,251 residents
are split across the line too. Shell Knob likewise extends east into Stone County, though most of
its land and population sit in Barry’s White River Township.

Townships

Barry County has 25 civil townships in total, including Ash, Capps Creek, Corsicana, Crane
Creek, Jenkins, Kings Prairie, Liberty, McDonald, McDowell, Mineral, Mountain, Ozark, Pioneer,
Pleasant Ridge, and Sugar Creek, most of them rural with no town at their center. The Census
Bureau does not publish separate population counts for Missouri’s minor civil divisions in
the 2020 count used here, so per-township figures above are omitted rather than estimated.

ZIP Codes

• 65625 — Cassville (also covers Butterfield)
• 65708 — Monett
• 65723 — Pierce City
• 65734 — Purdy
• 65747 — Shell Knob
• 65745 — Seligman
• 65647 — Exeter
• 64874 — Wheaton
• 65658 — Golden
• 65772 — Washburn

Eagle Rock and Chain-O-Lakes have no ZIP code of their own; mail there is delivered under the
nearest incorporated town’s code.

Geography

Barry County sits in Missouri’s southwestern Ozarks, a region of steep hollows and spring-fed
streams. Of its 791 square miles, 778 are land and 13 are water, about 1.6 percent, mostly along
the arm of Table Rock Lake that reaches into the county’s eastern townships near Shell Knob.
Roaring River, in the county’s south, feeds Roaring River State Park and its trout hatchery,
one of the largest spring-fed trout fisheries in the Ozarks.

Lawrence County lies to the north, Stone County to the east, Carroll County, Arkansas to the
southeast, Benton County, Arkansas to the south, McDonald County to the southwest, and Newton
County to the northwest. Lawrence
County, Stone County, McDonald County and Newton County all have posts on
this site; the two Arkansas counties do not.

Demographics

Barry County had a population of 34,534 at the 2020 census, and the latest estimate puts it
near 36,200 residents by 2025. Monett and Cassville are the county’s two largest
communities, together holding well over a third of its population. Missouri’s statewide median household income is $68,545 (2023 ACS). Population density works out to roughly 44 people per square mile
of land, well below the state average, reflecting the county’s largely rural character
outside the Monett-Cassville corridor.

Economy & Local Life

Manufacturing and food processing anchor the county’s economy. Monett is home to Jack
Henry & Associates, a financial-technology company and one of the region’s largest
employers, alongside a Tyson Foods poultry plant, Schreiber Foods, and Miracle Recreation
Equipment Company, a playground-equipment manufacturer. Cassville serves as a retail and health
care hub for an estimated 14,000 people in the surrounding area, according to the city’s own
figures, with CoxHealth operating a hospital there. Roaring River State Park, with its trout
hatchery and hiking trails, draws visitors from across the region each spring when trout season
opens on 1 March.

History

Missouri’s General Assembly organized Barry County on 5 January 1835, one of the earlier
counties formed in the state’s southwestern Ozarks. It was named for William Taylor Barry, a
Kentucky politician who served as U.S. Postmaster General under Andrew Jackson. Cassville, platted
in 1845 and incorporated in 1847, took its name from Lewis Cass, a former U.S. Senator and
Secretary of War, and served briefly as a Confederate state capital of Missouri in 1861 during the
Civil War before Union forces retook the region.

Getting There

U.S. Route 60 crosses the county’s north end through Monett; no interstate highway runs
through Barry County. Missouri Routes 37, 39, 76, 86, 97 and 248 connect the county’s towns.

• Springfield — about 45 miles north
• Joplin — about 35 miles northwest
• Branson — about 30 miles east
• Rogers, Arkansas — about 40 miles south

Springfield-Branson National Airport, roughly 50 miles north of Cassville, is the nearest major
commercial airport. Monett Municipal Airport handles general aviation. No Amtrak line serves Barry
County; the nearest station is in Kansas City.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Barry County located?
It sits in Missouri’s southwestern Ozarks, about 45 miles south of Springfield, bordered by
Lawrence, Stone, McDonald and Newton counties in Missouri and Carroll and Benton counties in
Arkansas.

What is the population of Barry County?
34,534 at the 2020 census, with a 2025 estimate near 36,200.

How big is Barry County?
791 square miles (2,050 km2) in total, of which 778 square miles (2,020 km2) is land.

What is the county seat of Barry County?
Cassville, incorporated in 1847, is the county seat.

How many towns and cities are in Barry County?
Eight incorporated cities — Cassville, Monett (partly), Pierce City (partly), Purdy,
Seligman, Exeter, Wheaton and Washburn — plus the census designated places Shell Knob,
Golden and Eagle Rock, and the unincorporated communities Butterfield and Chain-O-Lakes.

What ZIP codes does Barry County use?
65625 for Cassville, 65708 for Monett, 65723 for Pierce City, 65734 for Purdy, 65745 for
Seligman, 65647 for Exeter, 64874 for Wheaton, 65658 for Golden, and 65772 for Washburn.

What is Barry County known for?
Roaring River State Park and its spring-fed trout hatchery, and Jack Henry & Associates, the
financial-technology company headquartered in Monett.

More counties in this state: Towns and
villages in Missouri.