Buchanan County vs Cape Girardeau County

A side-by-side comparison of Buchanan County and Cape Girardeau County: population, income, housing, and more.

Buchanan County and Cape Girardeau County are counties in Missouri. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Buchanan County has the higher population (83,855 vs 82,180 in Cape Girardeau County). Cape Girardeau County has the higher median household income ($68,912 vs $59,423 in Buchanan County). Cape Girardeau County has the higher median home value ($208,300 vs $156,600 in Buchanan County).

Population, income & housing

	Buchanan County	Cape Girardeau County
Population	83,855	82,180
Median age	38.9 yrs	37.0 yrs
Median household income	$59,423	$68,912
Median home value	$156,600	$208,300
Median gross rent	$889	$881
Housing units	38,415	35,892
Homeownership rate	64.9%	66.0%
Bachelor's degree or higher	23.3%	33.9%
Unemployment rate	4.5%	2.9%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Buchanan County	Cape Girardeau County
Population	88,460 → 83,855 (-5.2%)	78,491 → 82,180 (+4.7%)
Median household income	$51,916 → $59,423 (+14.5%)	$53,732 → $68,912 (+28.3%)
Median home value	$122,200 → $156,600 (+28.2%)	$160,500 → $208,300 (+29.8%)
Median gross rent	$779 → $889 (+14.1%)	$808 → $881 (+9.0%)

Buchanan County

Population

88,46083,855

Median household income

$51,916$59,423

Median home value

$122,200$156,600

Median gross rent

$779$889

Cape Girardeau County

Population

78,49182,180

Median household income

$53,732$68,912

Median home value

$160,500$208,300

Median gross rent

$808$881

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Buchanan County	Cape Girardeau County
Under 5	6.0%	5.7%
5 to 17	16.4%	15.8%
18 to 24	9.4%	14.0%
25 to 34	12.9%	12.4%
35 to 44	13.0%	11.6%
45 to 54	11.7%	11.0%
55 to 64	13.5%	12.2%
65 to 74	10.3%	9.9%
75 and over	6.8%	7.3%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Buchanan County	Cape Girardeau County
White (non-Hispanic)	80.7%	84.1%
Black or African American	5.6%	8.1%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.2%	0.1%
Asian	1.2%	1.4%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.4%	0.1%
Some other race	0.1%	0.3%
Two or more races	4.6%	3.1%
Hispanic or Latino	7.0%	2.8%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Buchanan County	Cape Girardeau County
No high school diploma	10.2%	7.2%
High school graduate	38.2%	32.1%
Some college or associate's	28.2%	26.9%
Bachelor's degree	16.0%	21.7%
Graduate or professional degree	7.4%	12.2%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Buchanan County	Cape Girardeau County
Drove alone	80.2%	81.2%
Carpooled	10.2%	8.1%
Public transit	0.3%	0.2%
Walked	1.3%	1.5%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.1%
Worked from home	6.9%	8.0%
Other means	1.1%	1.1%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Buchanan County	Cape Girardeau County
1-unit, detached	73.5%	70.8%
1-unit, attached	2.1%	2.5%
2 to 4 units	7.5%	8.8%
5 to 19 units	7.2%	10.3%
20 or more units	5.5%	2.9%
Mobile home & other	4.1%	4.6%

Poverty & households

	Buchanan County	Cape Girardeau County
Poverty rate	16.9%	14.1%
Average household size	2.41	2.41
Mean commute (minutes)	18	19
Median year structure built	1964	1982