Cape Girardeau County vs Cole County

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

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

Cape Girardeau County has the higher population (82,180 vs 76,924 in Cole County). Cole County has the higher median household income ($73,273 vs $68,912 in Cape Girardeau County). Cole County has the higher median home value ($214,400 vs $208,300 in Cape Girardeau County).

Population, income & housing

	Cape Girardeau County	Cole County
Population	82,180	76,924
Median age	37.0 yrs	39.7 yrs
Median household income	$68,912	$73,273
Median home value	$208,300	$214,400
Median gross rent	$881	$804
Housing units	35,892	33,385
Homeownership rate	66.0%	67.4%
Bachelor's degree or higher	33.9%	37.5%
Unemployment rate	2.9%	3.0%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Cape Girardeau County	Cole County
Population	78,491 → 82,180 (+4.7%)	76,723 → 76,924 (+0.3%)
Median household income	$53,732 → $68,912 (+28.3%)	$60,066 → $73,273 (+22.0%)
Median home value	$160,500 → $208,300 (+29.8%)	$162,300 → $214,400 (+32.1%)
Median gross rent	$808 → $881 (+9.0%)	$661 → $804 (+21.6%)

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

Cole County

Population

76,72376,924

Median household income

$60,066$73,273

Median home value

$162,300$214,400

Median gross rent

$661$804

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Cape Girardeau County	Cole County
Under 5	5.7%	5.8%
5 to 17	15.8%	16.4%
18 to 24	14.0%	8.5%
25 to 34	12.4%	13.1%
35 to 44	11.6%	13.6%
45 to 54	11.0%	11.9%
55 to 64	12.2%	13.0%
65 to 74	9.9%	10.5%
75 and over	7.3%	7.0%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Cape Girardeau County	Cole County
White (non-Hispanic)	84.1%	79.7%
Black or African American	8.1%	11.2%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.1%
Asian	1.4%	1.6%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.1%	0.0%
Some other race	0.3%	0.5%
Two or more races	3.1%	3.4%
Hispanic or Latino	2.8%	3.5%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Cape Girardeau County	Cole County
No high school diploma	7.2%	6.4%
High school graduate	32.1%	29.5%
Some college or associate's	26.9%	26.7%
Bachelor's degree	21.7%	23.7%
Graduate or professional degree	12.2%	13.8%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Cape Girardeau County	Cole County
Drove alone	81.2%	80.8%
Carpooled	8.1%	8.2%
Public transit	0.2%	0.4%
Walked	1.5%	1.3%
Bicycle	0.1%	0.1%
Worked from home	8.0%	7.3%
Other means	1.1%	1.9%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Cape Girardeau County	Cole County
1-unit, detached	70.8%	69.5%
1-unit, attached	2.5%	2.9%
2 to 4 units	8.8%	14.8%
5 to 19 units	10.3%	6.7%
20 or more units	2.9%	3.7%
Mobile home & other	4.6%	2.4%

Poverty & households

	Cape Girardeau County	Cole County
Poverty rate	14.1%	9.3%
Average household size	2.41	2.36
Mean commute (minutes)	19	18
Median year structure built	1982	1981