Cape Girardeau, Missouri
Area Profile
40,344 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Cape Girardeau, in Cape Girardeau County.
How this area ranks
Data updated · 15 sourcesUnemployment is 4.6% and median household income $55,658, putting employment conditions in the middle range of cities measured.
In the public schools here, 36% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 11.8 students for every teacher.
45 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, essentially level with the prior year — steady rather than turning.
These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.
At a glance
Jobs & opportunity
Unemployment of 4.6% — higher than in all but 40% of the 4,226 measured US cities.
Employment grew 1.2% over the past year, to 19,790 employed residents.
35% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 76% of measured US cities.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Income of new arrivalsCape Girardeau County, MO’s figurefiling years 2022–2023 | $49,665 | 7th percentileof 4,101 | filing years 2022–2023 |
| Income of those who leftCape Girardeau County, MO’s figurefiling years 2022–2023 | $56,873 | 19th percentileof 4,101 | filing years 2022–2023 |
| Median household income ±$2,3132024 ACS 5-Year | $55,658 | Bottom 32%of 29,223 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Per capita income ±$2,1622024 ACS 5-Year | $32,930 | Bottom 47%of 31,420 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Poverty rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year | 17.5% | Bottom 28%of 31,773 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Average commute ±1.0 min2024 ACS 5-Year | 17.0 min | Top 9%of 31,543 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Bachelor's degree or higher ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year | 34.9% | Top 24%of 31,919 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Drove alone to work ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year | 79.9% | 59th percentileof 31,433 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| EmploymentJuly 2026 | 19,790 | Bottom 23%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Employment change (3 years)July 2026 | +1.8% | Top 22%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Employment change (year over year)July 2026 | +1.2% | Top 13%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Labor forceJuly 2026 | 20,735 | 23rd percentileof 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Labor force participation ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year | 79.0% | Top 47%of 31,513 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Mean annual wageCape Girardeau, MO-IL Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS | $56,640 | Bottom 7%of 3,729 | 2025 OEWS |
| Median annual wageCape Girardeau, MO-IL Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS | $44,470 | Bottom 5%of 3,729 | 2025 OEWS |
| Public transit to work ±0.2%2024 ACS 5-Year | 0.2% | 76th percentileof 31,433 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026 | −0.5% | Top 25%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Unemployment rateJuly 2026 | 4.6% | Bottom 40%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Worked from home ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year | 7.9% | 51st percentileof 31,433 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
Unemployment rate
Median household income, successive ACS releases
Largest occupations — Cape Girardeau, MO-IL
| Occupation | People employed | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| Home Health and Personal Care Aides | 1,540 | $33,940 |
| Registered Nurses | 1,470 | $82,640 |
| Retail Salespersons | 1,460 | $30,250 |
| General and Operations Managers | 1,450 | $74,790 |
| Cashiers | 1,270 | $29,350 |
| Cooks, Fast Food | 1,070 | $28,820 |
Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.
Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
36% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 48% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.
There are 11.8 students for every full-time teacher across 10 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.
| School | District | Students | Per teacher | Math | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central High | CAPE GIRARDEAU 63 | 1,278 | 14.4 | 33% | 58% |
| Central Jr. High | CAPE GIRARDEAU 63 | 633 | 11.7 | 33% | 42% |
| Central Middle | CAPE GIRARDEAU 63 | 623 | 13.3 | 47% | 52% |
| Jefferson Elem. | CAPE GIRARDEAU 63 | 494 | 11.0 | 22% | 27% |
| Clippard Elem. | CAPE GIRARDEAU 63 | 383 | 10.4 | 27% | 32% |
| Alma Schrader Elem. | CAPE GIRARDEAU 63 | 332 | 11.1 | 52% | 62% |
| Blanchard Elem. | CAPE GIRARDEAU 63 | 326 | 12.1 | 62% | 67% |
| Nell Holcomb Elem. | NELL HOLCOMB R-IV | 249 | 8.6 | 32% | 47% |
| Franklin Elem. | CAPE GIRARDEAU 63 | 241 | 9.6 | 22% | 32% |
| Parkview School | MO SCHLS FOR THE SEV DISABLED | 25 | 5.0 | — | — |
| Cape Girardeau Car Tech Ctr. | CAPE GIRARDEAU 63 | 0 | — | — | — |
96.4% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.
Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Missouri’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.
Housing & affordability
How it’s calculated — housing affordability →Prices for everything a household buys run about 14% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 86.1, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Cape Girardeau, MO-IL Metro Area is up 39% over five years, and up 4.7% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.
Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $1,380 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.70% of the median home value.
HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $992, some 13% above the $876 tenants already here pay.
At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $992 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $39,700 a year, about 71% of the median household income here of $55,658.
The typical renter household here spends 29% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $876 a month.
A median home at $196,300 costs 2.5 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $79,297, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.
Prices here run about 14% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.
Published for the Cape Girardeau, MO-IL Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.
The figures above are measured against Cape Girardeau’s median household income of $55,658, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost of living indexthe Cape Girardeau, MO-IL Metro Area’s figure2023 | 86.1 | Top 1%of 3,700 | 2023 |
| Home price change (1 year)the Cape Girardeau, MO-IL Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2 | +4.7% | 75th percentileof 4,154 | 2026 Q2 |
| Home price change (5 years)the Cape Girardeau, MO-IL Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2 | +39.0% | 38th percentileof 4,154 | 2026 Q2 |
| Home price change (10 years)the Cape Girardeau, MO-IL Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2 | +67.0% | 11th percentileof 4,154 | 2026 Q2 |
| Home price to income ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year | 2.5 | Top 50%of 26,815 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Homeownership rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year | 54.0% | 13th percentileof 31,717 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Housing units ±3692024 ACS 5-Year | 18,745 | 97th percentileof 32,177 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Market rent, one bedroomFY2026 | $807 | Top 8%of 4,072 | FY2026 |
| Market rent, three bedroomFY2026 | $1,380 | Top 12%of 4,072 | FY2026 |
| Market rent, two bedroomFY2026 | $992 | Top 7%of 4,072 | FY2026 |
| Median gross rent ±$452024 ACS 5-Year | $876 | Top 39%of 23,120 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median home value ±$11,2892024 ACS 5-Year | $196,300 | 52nd percentileof 29,111 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median property taxes ±$662024 ACS 5-Year | $1,380 | 38th percentileof 26,440 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Owner household income ±$6,4282024 ACS 5-Year | $79,297 | Top 49%of 27,548 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Property tax rate ±0.05%2024 ACS 5-Year | 0.70% | 29th percentileof 20,543 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year | 29.2% | Bottom 45%of 22,950 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Seasonal and second homes ±1972024 ACS 5-Year | 353 | 96th percentileof 32,330 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year | 1.9% | 68th percentileof 31,895 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year | 10.8% | 67th percentileof 31,769 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Vacant housing units ±3752024 ACS 5-Year | 2,381 | 98th percentileof 32,330 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures and the cost-of-living index.
Growth & development
How it’s calculated — growth →Development Momentum
An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.
Population has grown 3% since 2020, reaching 40,818 in 2024.
New construction is predominantly single-family: of 45 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.
Federal tax returns show that people moving in from elsewhere in the US and people moving out roughly balanced across Cape Girardeau County, which contains Cape Girardeau, in the most recent year. Households that moved in reported an average income of $49,665, below the $56,873 of households that moved out.
At 1.1 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.
Population, annual estimates
People moving in and out
Where newcomers came from
- Scott County, MO 503 people · 15% of arrivals
- Bollinger County, MO 219 people · 6.7% of arrivals
- St. Louis County, MO 141 people · 4.3% of arrivals
- Stoddard County, MO 132 people · 4.0% of arrivals
- Perry County, MO 129 people · 3.9% of arrivals
Where people who left went
- Scott County, MO 474 people · 14% of departures
- Bollinger County, MO 220 people · 6.7% of departures
- St. Louis County, MO 192 people · 5.9% of departures
- Perry County, MO 109 people · 3.3% of departures
- St. Louis city, MO 91 people · 2.8% of departures
Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. This is the figure for Cape Girardeau County, MO. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.
Housing units permitted per year
Weather & climate
7 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 89°F and January a low of 26°F.
Normal annual precipitation is 47.9 inches.
Precipitation
| Metric | Value | Source period |
|---|---|---|
| Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals | 47.9" | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average January low1991-2020 Normals | 26°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average July high1991-2020 Normals | 89°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals | 7 | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals | 45°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. How to read climate and air quality.
Physical risk
The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are earthquake, inland flooding and heat wave, with earthquake alone responsible for 43% of it. Heat wave is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.
Low or minimal exposure: heat wave, lightning, drought, hurricane, wildfire, avalanche, tsunami, volcanic activity, coastal flooding.
Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.
Below these are deaths rather than offenses, published for the county. The two measure different things and are not comparable with each other.
Cape Girardeau's police department reported 467 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, higher than most places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 1,743.
Cape Girardeau County has a modeled homicide rate of about 4.6 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.
Firearm deaths of all intents run at 19.3 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.
Drug overdose deaths run at 14.5 per 100,000 residents in Cape Girardeau County.
Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.
Offenses are reported to the FBI by Cape Girardeau’s own police department and shown only where it reported every month of the year; a partial year is withheld rather than scaled up. Reported crime is what police recorded, which is not the same as what happened. Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe the county around Cape Girardeau (Cape Girardeau County) rather than Cape Girardeau itself. Neither is part of the Area Score. How to read crime rates and death rates.
What this profile does not cover
Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.
- Air quality
- The EPA publishes an air-quality index only where a monitor sits. There is none in this county, and a modeled value would be a different kind of number from the measured ones everywhere else on this page.
- Taxes
- Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
- Anything about a specific address
- Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.
Access
3 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Veterans Airport of Southern Illinois at 43 miles.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year | 87.4% | Bottom 40%of 31,588 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Distance to major airportNASR current cycle | 43 mi | Bottom 17%of 4,226 | NASR current cycle |
| Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle | 3 | Bottom 20%of 4,226 | NASR current cycle |
| No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year | 8.5% | Bottom 45%of 31,588 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Airport | Code | Distance | Longest runway |
|---|---|---|---|
| Veterans Airport of Southern Illinois | MWA | 43 mi | 8,012 ft |
| Scott AFB/Midamerica St Louis | BLV | 87 mi | 10,000 ft |
| Arkansas Intl | BYH | 95 mi | 11,602 ft |
Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.
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Other cities in Cape Girardeau, MO-IL
Same metropolitan area, measured the same way| City | County | Population | Area Score | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jackson | Cape Girardeau County | 15,659 | 65 | Jackson vs Cape Girardeau |
Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.
Similar places
Matched on AreaProfile signals, not geographyCompare
Put Cape Girardeau side by side with a similar place.
Moving to Cape Girardeau from somewhere else?
You get the difference in prices, rent and weather, and the income that would keep pace.
Data & methodology
| Used for | Source | Source period |
|---|---|---|
| Access | Federal Aviation Administration Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service | NASR current cycle |
| Safety | Federal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency | 2025 calendar year |
| Physical risk | Federal Emergency Management Agency National Risk Index | National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0) |
| Demographics, Income | Internal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county) | filing years 2022–2023 |
| Climate | NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly) | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Housing | U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional price parities and county personal income | 2023 |
| Jobs | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics | 2025 OEWS |
| Jobs | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Local Area Unemployment Statistics | July 2026 |
| Development | U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey | 12 months ending July 2026 |
| Demographics | U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program | July 1, 2024 estimate |
| Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, Jobs | U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File) | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Safety | U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics Provisional county-level mortality by intent | March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026 |
| Schools | U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments | 2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year |
| Housing | U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research Fair Market Rents | FY2026 |
| Housing | U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions) | 2026 Q2 |
| Current conditions | NOAA National Weather Service National Weather Service current conditions | Live observation, read when the page opens |
Profile recalculated October 8, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology, or every source with how often each updates.