Van Buren is a city in and county seat of Carter County, Missouri, United States, that is the largest city in Carter County. Van Buren was founded in 1833 as the county seat of Ripley County and was named after then Vice President of the United States, Martin Van Buren. In 1859, Van Buren became a part of the newly created Carter County and was subsequently selected to be the county seat. The 2020 U.S. census showed Van Buren with a population of 747.