St. Francois County, Missouri

St. Francois County is a county in Missouri, United States, about 65 miles south of St.
Louis in the Lead Belt region of the Ozark foothills. It had a population of 66,922 at the
2020 census, an estimated 67,809 by 2025, and covers 452 square miles (1,170 km2) centred
near 37°47′N 90°25′W.

Farmington is the county seat and the county’s largest city; its postal code is 63640. The
county holds 8 cities, 7 census-designated places and more than a dozen smaller unincorporated
communities across 8 townships, and it runs on Central Time. Its FIPS code is 29187.

Towns & Villages in St. Francois County

St. Francois County has 15 named places on record with 2020 census figures: 8 incorporated
cities and 7 census-designated places (CDPs), plus a wider set of unincorporated communities
with no population count of their own. CDP stands for census designated place; Unincorp.
covers crossroads and mining-era settlements with no formal boundary.

Two places on this list share names with entries elsewhere on the site. Iron Mountain Lake
is an incorporated city here, not to be confused with the unincorporated Iron Mountain
settlement in neighboring Washington County. Terre du Lac and Lake Timberline both straddle
into Washington County, but the U.S. Census Bureau assigns each CDP’s full population to St.
Francois County, where most of each community actually sits.

ZIP Codes

• 63640 — Farmington
• 63601 — Park Hills (also serves Desloge, Leadington, Frankclay and Wortham)
• 63628 — Bonne Terre (also serves Terre du Lac and Lake Timberline)
• 63624 — Bismarck (also serves Iron Mountain Lake)
• 63653 — Leadwood
• 63637 — Doe Run
• 63651 — Knob Lick
• 63036 — Goose Creek Lake, delivered from the Ste. Genevieve County post office of the
  same code

Blackwell, De Lassus, French Village, Libertyville, Old Mines and Silver Springs have no
ZIP code of their own; mail there is sorted under the nearest incorporated town’s code.

Geography

St. Francois County sits in Missouri’s Lead Belt, a mineral district along the eastern edge
of the Ozark Plateau where lead ore was mined from shallow diggings and deep shafts for more
than two centuries. Of its 452 square miles, 449 are land and 2.8 square miles are water, a
low share reflecting the county’s hilly, well-drained terrain. The Big River, a tributary of
the Meramec, crosses the county’s northern and western townships and once carried lead-mine
tailings downstream, a legacy still tracked by federal cleanup crews. Several of the county’s
CDPs, including Terre du Lac, Lake Timberline and Goose Creek Lake, are built around
man-made reservoirs on Big River and Goose Creek tributaries rather than around a historic
town center.

Jefferson County lies to the north, Ste. Genevieve County to the east, Perry County to the
southeast, Madison County to the south, Iron County to the southwest, and Washington County
to the west. Jefferson
County, Ste. Genevieve
County, Perry County,
Madison County,
Iron County and
Washington County all
border St. Francois directly.

Demographics

St. Francois County had a population of 66,922 at the 2020 census, up from earlier decades,
and the latest estimate puts the county near 67,809 residents. Farmington and Park Hills are
the two largest communities, together holding roughly a third of the county’s population.
Median household income runs below Missouri’s statewide 2023 ACS figure of $68,545, reflecting
the county’s mining-era economic base and a large share of institutional and correctional
employment. Population density works out to roughly 149 people per square mile of land, well
above the state average outside the St. Louis and Kansas City metro areas, since the county
also anchors its own Farmington micropolitan statistical area.

Economy & Local Life

Health care and corrections employ a large share of the county’s workforce. BJC Parkland
Health Center and Centene Corp both operate major sites in Farmington, alongside the
Farmington Correctional Center and the Southeast Missouri Mental Health Center. Manufacturing
adds SRG Global and U.S. Tool, both based in Farmington. Bonne Terre hosts the Eastern
Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center, one of the Missouri Department of Corrections’
largest intake facilities. Park Hills is home to Mineral Area College, the county’s two-year
public college, built on the site of the former Flat River Junior College. The county’s
mining heritage is preserved at the Bonne Terre Mine, a flooded former lead mine now run as a
National Register scuba-diving and tour site.

History

St. Francois County was organized on 19 December 1821, taking its name from the St. Francis
River, whose own name traces to either St. Francis of Assisi or the Jesuit missionary Francis
Xavier, depending on the source. French miners had already worked lead deposits in the area
since the 1720s, and the county’s mining towns grew up around those diggings through the 19th
and 20th centuries. Desloge, Leadwood, Bonne Terre and the four towns that later merged into
Park Hills — Flat River, Elvins, Esther and Rivermines — all began as company or
mining-camp settlements tied to the St. Joe Lead Company and its rivals. Park Hills itself did
not exist until January 1994, when Flat River, Elvins, Esther and Rivermines consolidated
into one city, one of the more unusual municipal mergers in Missouri history. Farmington
began as Murphy’s Settlement in 1798 and was renamed for the area’s farmland when it
incorporated in 1836.

Getting There

U.S. Route 67 runs north–south through the county’s center, linking Farmington and
Park Hills to St. Louis; no interstate highway crosses the county. Missouri Routes 8, 32, 47
and 221 provide the remaining state-highway network.

• St. Louis — about 65 miles north
• Cape Girardeau — about 60 miles southeast
• Ste. Genevieve — about 25 miles northeast
• Fredericktown — about 20 miles south

St. Louis Lambert International Airport, roughly 70 miles north of Farmington, is the
nearest major commercial airport. The county’s own Farmington Regional Airport handles
general aviation. Amtrak does not serve the county; the nearest station is in Poplar Bluff,
about 75 miles south.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is St. Francois County located?
It sits in Missouri’s Lead Belt region, about 65 miles south of St. Louis, bordered by
Jefferson, Ste. Genevieve, Perry, Madison, Iron and Washington counties.

What is the population of St. Francois County?
66,922 at the 2020 census, with a 2025 estimate near 67,809.

How big is St. Francois County?
452 square miles (1,170 km2) of land, plus 2.8 square miles of water.

What is the county seat of St. Francois County?
Farmington is the county seat and largest city, first settled in 1798 and incorporated in
1836.

How many towns are in St. Francois County?
Eight incorporated cities — Farmington, Park Hills, Bonne Terre, Desloge, Bismarck,
Leadwood, Leadington and Iron Mountain Lake — plus seven census-designated places:
Terre du Lac, Lake Timberline, Doe Run, Goose Creek Lake, Wortham, Frankclay and Knob Lick.

What ZIP codes does St. Francois County use?
63640 for Farmington; 63601 for Park Hills, Desloge and Leadington; 63628 for Bonne Terre;
63624 for Bismarck and Iron Mountain Lake; 63653 for Leadwood; 63637 for Doe Run; and 63651
for Knob Lick.

What is St. Francois County known for?
Two centuries of lead mining in the Old Lead Belt, the flooded Bonne Terre Mine now run as a
scuba-diving attraction, and the 1994 merger of four mining towns into Park Hills.

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