Missouri statistics: We marry more than we divorce, but we spend $1,200 below national average in school spending

JEFFERSON CITY — Missourians marry twice as often as they divorce, earn less money than the national average and top the national average in killing themselves driving drunk.

These tidbits and others come from the federal government’s 127th annual Statistical Abstract of the United States, which provides a statistical snapshot of the nation.

Missouri ranks in the middle of many statistical comparisons, though in some cases the numbers show a less favorable standing. The state was 35th in 2005 in per-pupil public school spending at $8,034, $1,200 below the national average.

Missouri was 34th in the number of residents 25 and older with at least a bachelor’s degree, 35th in median household income and 44th in teachers’ average salaries.

The state was 15th in violent crime per 100,000 population, 17th in infant mortality and 20th in persons living below the poverty level.