Missouri climate

Missouri Plant Hardiness Zones

Missouri’s towns run from zone 5b to zone 8a: the average coldest winter night is 10.5°F at Cardwell and -11.9°F at Burlington Junction.

Hardiness zones in Missouri

In USDA’s colors, neighboring states washed out. Zones follow elevation, coasts and cities down to half a mile. Drawn by WeatherOverTime from the USDA-ARS and Oregon State University PRISM Climate Group 2023 GIS data; this is not the official USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map.

Map of the 2023 plant hardiness zones across Missouri, from zone 5b to zone 8a, with the state’s border drawn.
  • 5b
  • 6a
  • 6b
  • 7a
  • 7b
  • 8a

Open the live map with plant hardiness zones

Towns by zone

Each town’s 1991-2020 average annual extreme minimum at its center, read from the map’s 800 m grid. Warmest zone first.

8a Zone 8a, 10 to 15°F 3 towns

7b Zone 7b, 5 to 10°F 24 towns

7a Zone 7a, 0 to 5°F 195 towns

6b Zone 6b, -5 to 0°F 211 towns

6a Zone 6a, -10 to -5°F 76 towns

5b Zone 5b, -15 to -10°F 12 towns

Counties

At the county’s center; a county with hills or a coast spans several zones.

CountyZone at the centerAverage coldest night
Adair County6a-8.6°F
Andrew County6a-8.3°F
Atchison County5b-10.8°F
Audrain County6b-4°F
Barry County7a1°F
Barton County7a1.3°F
Bates County6b-2.3°F
Benton County6b-1.6°F
Bollinger County6b-0.5°F
Boone County6b-2°F
Buchanan County6a-6.4°F
Butler County7b6°F
Caldwell County6a-9.6°F
Callaway County6b-2.8°F
Camden County6b-0.7°F
Cape Girardeau County7a2.7°F
Carroll County6a-5.5°F
Carter County7a1.5°F
Cass County6b-3.7°F
Cedar County7a0.2°F
Chariton County6a-5.7°F
Christian County6b-0.6°F
City of Saint Louis7a1.2°F
Clark County6a-8°F
Clay County6a-6.9°F
Clinton County6a-8.2°F
Cole County6b-0.9°F
Cooper County6b-2.8°F
Crawford County6b-4.7°F
Dade County7a0°F
Dallas County6b-1.4°F
Daviess County6a-8.2°F
DeKalb County6a-8.6°F
Dent County6b-0.4°F
Douglas County7a2.2°F
Dunklin County7b9.8°F
Franklin County6b-3.2°F
Gasconade County6b-3.8°F
Gentry County6a-8.7°F
Greene County7a0.1°F
Grundy County6a-8.3°F
Harrison County5b-10.2°F
Henry County6b-2.8°F
Hickory County6b-1.5°F
Holt County6a-8.7°F
Howard County6b-4.3°F
Howell County7a1.6°F
Iron County6b-1.3°F
Jackson County6b-2.7°F
Jasper County7a1.6°F
Jefferson County6b-0.8°F
Johnson County6b-3.5°F
Knox County6a-7.8°F
Laclede County7a0°F
Lafayette County6a-5.1°F
Lawrence County7a0°F
Lewis County6a-6.9°F
Lincoln County6b-3.5°F
Linn County6a-7.8°F
Livingston County6a-7.6°F
Macon County6a-7.6°F
Madison County6b-0.9°F
Maries County6b-3.5°F
Marion County6a-5.6°F
McDonald County7a1.5°F
Mercer County6a-9.9°F
Miller County6b-0.4°F
Mississippi County7b5.6°F
Moniteau County6b-2.5°F
Monroe County6a-5.6°F
Montgomery County6b-3.5°F
Morgan County6b-1.4°F
New Madrid County7b7.7°F
Newton County7a1°F
Nodaway County5b-11.9°F
Oregon County7a1.1°F
Osage County6b-3°F
Ozark County7a3.8°F
Pemiscot County7b9.2°F
Perry County6b-0.3°F
Pettis County6b-3.4°F
Phelps County6b-5°F
Pike County6a-6.1°F
Platte County6a-5.2°F
Polk County6b-0.5°F
Pulaski County6b-3.3°F
Putnam County5b-10.7°F
Ralls County6a-5.8°F
Randolph County6b-4.5°F
Ray County6a-6.6°F
Reynolds County6b-2°F
Ripley County7a3.8°F
Saint Charles County6b-0.7°F
Saint Francois County6b-0.1°F
Saint Louis County7a2.6°F
Sainte Genevieve County6b-0.2°F
Saline County6b-4°F
Schuyler County6a-10°F
Scotland County6a-9.5°F
Scott County7a4.5°F
Shannon County6b-3.2°F
Shelby County6a-7.1°F
St. Clair County6b-0.8°F
Stoddard County7a4.2°F
Stone County7a1.3°F
Sullivan County6a-8.4°F
Taney County7a2.7°F
Texas County7a0.2°F
Vernon County7a0.7°F
Warren County6b-2.9°F
Washington County6b-2.2°F
Wayne County7a1.7°F
Webster County7a0.2°F
Worth County5b-11.2°F
Wright County6b-0.5°F

The zones

A plant hardiness zone is set by the average of each winter’s single coldest temperature, 1991 to 2020: zones are 10°F apart and each half zone, a and b, 5°F. It says how cold a winter night usually gets, not the coldest it has ever been, and nothing about summer heat, rain or soil. Plant labels give the coldest zone a perennial survives in.

ZoneAverage coldest nightIn Celsius
5b-15 to -10°F-26.1 to -23.3°C
6a-10 to -5°F-23.3 to -20.6°C
6b-5 to 0°F-20.6 to -17.8°C
7a0 to 5°F-17.8 to -15.0°C
7b5 to 10°F-15.0 to -12.2°C
8a10 to 15°F-12.2 to -9.4°C

Sources

Hardiness zones: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map, 2023, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, from the GIS data of the PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University, which may be freely reproduced and redistributed. Drawn by WeatherOverTime from the USDA-ARS and Oregon State University PRISM Climate Group 2023 GIS data; this is not the official USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map.