County Facts

Bates County is located on the west central border of Missouri, has 17,075 population and a population density of 20 people per square mile.  The population is more concentrated in the cities of Adrian, Amoret, Amsterdam, Butler – the county seat, Drexel, Hume, Foster, Merwin, Passaic, Rich Hill and Rockville.

Photo by Ernie Koehn

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Bates County has a land area measuring 849 square miles, and of the 114 counties in the state of Missouri, Bates is the sixth largest county. Being agriculturally diverse, it has the following rankings among Missouri’s counties: 2011

Beef cows 36,500 head, cattle & calves 45,500 head. Wheat production 53 bushel/acre, Hay production 141,000 tons.  Soybean production 29 bushel/acre, Corn production 119 bushel/acre.                                             Average annual precipitation for the county is 41.85 inches, with June being the wettest month averaging almost 6 inches and February being the driest month with 1.5 inches.  The average annual snowfall is 14 inches.  Temperature averages range from 29.9 degrees in January to 78.6 degrees in July.

Our Elementary Schools participated in an election to choose the County’s bird, tree and flower.  The winners: the Northern Cardinal, the Redbud tree and the Shooting Star flower.