Dunklin County, MO

County Profile

27,493 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Dunklin County, MO.

Several figures AreaProfile publishes are measured by county and nowhere finer — death rates by intent among them. On this page those describe the geography they are printed on, which is not true of the city and ZIP pages that inherit them.

40out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 3% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
Opportunity1,457th of 1,463 counties measured11
Schools1,153rd of 1,377 counties measured23
Growth1,263rd of 1,453 counties measured29
Housing affordabilityTop 16% of 1,462 counties measured81
ClimateTop 40% of 1,463 counties measured71
Physical resilience1,195th of 1,463 counties measured32
AccessTop 18% of 1,463 counties measured94
Economic stability1,399th of 1,463 counties measured17
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable counties measured: unemployment is 6.1% and the Opportunity signal places Dunklin County in the bottom 1%.

In the public schools here, 35% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 12.4 students for every teacher.

28 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 4% of 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

Population
27,493
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$47,849
Bottom 11% nationally
Density
51/sq mi
541.9 sq mi of land
Median age
39.7
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Dunklin County
Missouri
Micro area
Nearest major airport
BYH
15 mi · Arkansas Intl
Median home value
$97,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 6.1% — higher than in all but 6% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment fell 3.2% over the past year, to 10,278 employed residents.

Median household income of $47,849 is lower than in 89% of measured US counties.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$34,1681st percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$36,6781st percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$4,1462024 ACS 5-Year$47,849Bottom 11%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,3982024 ACS 5-Year$26,244Bottom 11%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$47,286Bottom 14%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year22.0%Bottom 11%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.3 min2024 ACS 5-Year25.3 minTop 47%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year13.2%Bottom 7%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year81.5%78th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202610,278Bottom 11%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026−1.5%Bottom 31%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−3.2%Bottom 8%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202610,94512th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year69.9%Bottom 25%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.1%2024 ACS 5-Year0.1%38th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.9%Top 13%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20266.1%Bottom 6%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±1.0%2024 ACS 5-Year3.0%4th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/077.03.3
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 6.1% in July 2026. It has been rising for the last 2 months, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202448k42k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $47,849 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

35% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 38% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 12.4 students for every full-time teacher across 19 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
21
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
12.4
across 19 of them
Math proficiency
35.1%
Bottom 11% in Missouri
Reading proficiency
37.8%
Bottom 2% in Missouri
The 12 largest of 21 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Kennett HighKENNETT 3949314.962%42%
Malden Lower Elem.MALDEN R-I42412.137%37%
South Elem.KENNETT 3942013.145%41%
H. Byron Masterson Elem.KENNETT 3941711.6——
Kennett MiddleKENNETT 3939213.138%41%
Malden HighMALDEN R-I38310.922%27%
Campbell Elem.CAMPBELL R-II31212.537%42%
Senath-Hornersville Elem SchSENATH-HORNERSVILLE C-829213.337%42%
Holcomb Elem.HOLCOMB R-III23511.227%37%
Campbell HighCAMPBELL R-II23512.447%52%
Senath-Hornersville Middle SchSENATH-HORNERSVILLE C-821111.119%40%
Senath-Hornersville High SchooSENATH-HORNERSVILLE C-820512.815%25%

99.7% 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.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the non-metropolitan parts of Missouri is up 53% over five years, and up 5.4% 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 $688 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 $888, some 37% above the $648 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $888 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $35,500 a year, about 74% of the median household income here of $47,849.

The typical renter household here spends 26% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $648 a month.

A median home at $97,600 costs 1.6 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $62,603, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
26.1%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
1.6×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$888
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$648
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$97,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Dunklin County’s median household income of $47,849, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Home price change (1 year)the non-metropolitan parts of Missouri’s figure2026 Q2+5.4%79th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Missouri’s figure2026 Q2+53.2%81st percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Missouri’s figure2026 Q2+101.2%61st percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.12024 ACS 5-Year1.6Top 6%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year62.3%10th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±392024 ACS 5-Year13,44752nd percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$677Top 4%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,228Top 15%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$888Top 6%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$302024 ACS 5-Year$648Top 8%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$5,3812024 ACS 5-Year$97,6006th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$632024 ACS 5-Year$68810th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$4,1772024 ACS 5-Year$62,603Bottom 20%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.08%2024 ACS 5-Year0.70%41st percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year26.1%Top 33%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±612024 ACS 5-Year6212th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.5%11th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year15.8%87th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±2622024 ACS 5-Year2,19057th percentileof 3,2222024 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.

Development Momentum

29/ 100
Ranks 1,263 of 1,453 published county profiles
The most recent move in permitting was downward, in a series running from 2022 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

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 fallen 4% since 2020, to 27,002 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before: 26 units authorized in 2025, 13% below the prior year.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 28 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Dunklin County lost about 0.5% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $34,168, below the $36,678 of households that moved out.

At 1.0 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
28
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
1.0
Bottom 18% nationally
Year over year
+4%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202428k27k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population. It has been holding roughly steady, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
−0.5%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
50%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$34,168
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$36,678
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Pemiscot County, MO 122 people · 11% of arrivals
  2. Stoddard County, MO 107 people · 10% of arrivals
  3. Greene County, AR 87 people · 8.2% of arrivals
  4. New Madrid County, MO 78 people · 7.3% of arrivals
  5. Butler County, MO 77 people · 7.3% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Stoddard County, MO 112 people · 9.7% of departures
  2. Pemiscot County, MO 95 people · 8.2% of departures
  3. Greene County, AR 93 people · 8.1% of departures
  4. Butler County, MO 90 people · 7.8% of departures
  5. Craighead County, AR 81 people · 7.0% 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. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

20222023202420253026
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was close to 2022 (−4%).

Weather & climate

6 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 91°F and January a low of 31°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 43.0 inches.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station BLYTHEVILLE MUNI AP, 19.6 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.9"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals43.0"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals31°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals91°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals61991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals42°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

32 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are earthquake, inland flooding and heat wave, with earthquake alone responsible for 59% of it. Inland flooding and heat wave are independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large those hazards are.

EarthquakeElevated
Ice stormElevated
DroughtElevated
Winter weatherModerate
TornadoHigh
Strong windModerate
Cold waveModerate
LandslideModerate

Low or minimal exposure: heat wave, lightning, hurricane, inland flooding, hail, wildfire, coastal flooding, tsunami, avalanche, volcanic activity.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). These are FEMA’s own figures for this county rather than a value derived from surrounding geographies. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Dunklin County has a modeled homicide rate of about 6.0 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, higher than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at about 16.5 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at about 11.6 per 100,000 residents in Dunklin County.

Homicide
6.0
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
16.5
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
11.6
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Suicide
17.3
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured

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.

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 Dunklin County as a whole. They are shown and not scored. How to read 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.

Reported crime
Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. City profiles inside this area carry their own figure where their department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Cost of living
Price parities are published for metropolitan areas, and this place lies outside one.
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. Cost of living is published where the Bureau of Economic Analysis measures it, though not for this place. 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 Arkansas Intl at 15 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year88.5%Top 37%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle15 miTop 17%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle3Bottom 35%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year10.0%Top 49%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Arkansas IntlBYH15 mi11,602 ft
Millington/MemphisNQA56 mi8,001 ft
Frederick W Smith Intl/MemphisMEM77 mi11,120 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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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
IncomeU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
SafetyU.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
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA 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.

Cities in Dunklin County, MO