Boone County, Missouri

Boone County is a county in Missouri, United States, on the north bank of the Missouri River in the central part of the state. It had a population of 183,610 at the 2020 census and covers 691 square miles (1,790 km2), of which 685 square miles are land and 5.6 square miles are water, centred near 38°56′54″N 92°20′02″W.

Columbia is the county seat, and its postal code is 65201. The county has 5 cities, 6 incorporated villages and roughly two dozen smaller unincorporated communities, all on Central Time, FIPS code 29019.

Towns & Villages in Boone County

Boone County lists 35 named places below: 5 incorporated cities, 6 incorporated villages and 24 unincorporated communities and crossroads that appear on county maps but have no municipal government. Missouri law treats a “village” as its own class of incorporated municipality, distinct from a city — both types are marked below, and places with no incorporation are labelled Unincorp.

Columbia and Centralia sit close enough to the Randolph County line that mail and school-district boundaries occasionally get confused with places of the same name farther north; every place in the table above is the Boone County entry.

ZIP Codes

• 65201, 65202, 65203 — Columbia (standard delivery)
• 65205 — Columbia (PO Box only)
• 65299 — Columbia (unique)
• 65211, 65212, 65215, 65216, 65217, 65218 — Columbia (unique codes assigned to University of Missouri campus offices)
• 65240 — Centralia
• 65010 — Ashland
• 65255 — Hallsville
• 65256 — Harrisburg
• 65039 — Hartsburg
• 65279 — Rocheport (also serves Huntsdale and McBaine)
• 65284 — Sturgeon

Pierpont has no ZIP of its own; mail there is delivered under a neighbouring Columbia or Hartsburg code depending on the address.

Geography

Boone County sits on the Missouri River, which forms its entire southern border, in the transition zone between the glaciated plains to the north and the Ozark Border to the south. Perche Creek drains the western half of the county and Hinkson Creek and Bonne Femme Creek drain the east, all flowing south to the Missouri River. Rock Bridge State Park, south of Columbia, sits over a network of caves cut into the Ozark limestone; the northern two-thirds of the county is rolling former tallgrass prairie now given over to row-crop farming.

Boone County borders seven counties: Randolph County to the north, Audrain County to the northeast, Callaway County to the east, Cole County to the south, Moniteau County to the southwest, Cooper County to the west and Howard County to the northwest.

Demographics

Boone County had 183,610 residents at the 2020 census, making it the eighth most populous county in Missouri. Columbia is by far the largest community, followed by Ashland; Centralia, Hallsville and Sturgeon are each much smaller. Median household income runs above the Missouri median of $68,545, driven by the university and healthcare workforce concentrated in and around Columbia. With 685 square miles of land, county-wide density works out to roughly 268 people per square mile, though most of that population is concentrated in the Columbia metropolitan area rather than spread evenly across the county.

Economy & Local Life

The University of Missouri is the county’s largest single employer and its presence shapes the local economy: MU Health Care and Boone Hospital Center anchor a large healthcare sector, and Columbia is also headquarters to Veterans United Home Loans and Shelter Insurance. Outside the city, farming — row crops in the northern townships, cattle and hay in the river-bottom land near Rocheport and Hartsburg — remains the main activity. Columbia’s Roots N Blues festival and the Boone County Fair in Central Missouri Events Center draw visitors from across the region each year.

History

Boone County was organised on November 16, 1820, carved from the western portion of Howard County while Missouri was still a territory awaiting statehood. It was named for Daniel Boone, who had died the same year; his sons had settled the nearby Boonslick country in the 1810s after following the Boone’s Lick Road west from the salt springs that gave the region its name. The University of Missouri, chartered in 1839, was the first public university established west of the Mississippi River, and its arrival set Columbia’s path as an education and healthcare hub distinct from the farm towns around it.

Getting There

Interstate 70 crosses the county east–west through Columbia, and U.S. Route 63 runs north–south connecting Columbia to Jefferson City and points north. Missouri Routes 22, 124, 163 and 763 link the smaller towns to the highway network.

• Jefferson City — 30 miles south
• Kansas City — 125 miles west
• St. Louis — 125 miles east
• Mexico, Missouri — 30 miles northeast

Columbia Regional Airport (COU) offers commercial passenger service and is the nearest airport within the county.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Boone County, Missouri?
It is in central Missouri on the north bank of the Missouri River, between Kansas City and St. Louis.

What is the population of Boone County?
183,610 people at the 2020 census, the eighth-highest county total in Missouri.

How big is Boone County?
691 square miles (1,790 km2), of which 685 square miles are land.

What is the county seat of Boone County?
Columbia, which is also the county’s largest city and home to the University of Missouri.

How many towns are in Boone County?
Eleven incorporated places — five cities and six villages — plus about two dozen smaller unincorporated communities.

What ZIP codes are in Boone County?
Columbia uses several ZIP codes including 65201, 65202 and 65203; the smaller towns each have their own, such as 65240 for Centralia and 65010 for Ashland.

Why is it called Boone County?
It was named for Daniel Boone shortly after his death in 1820; his sons had settled the Boonslick area a decade earlier.

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