Marion County vs Polk County

A side-by-side comparison of Marion County and Polk County: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Polk County has the higher population (32,109 vs 28,493 in Marion County). Marion County has the higher median household income ($63,908 vs $56,686 in Polk County). Polk County has the higher median home value ($189,600 vs $158,100 in Marion County).

Population, income & housing

	Marion County	Polk County
Population	28,493	32,109
Median age	39.4 yrs	38.9 yrs
Median household income	$63,908	$56,686
Median home value	$158,100	$189,600
Median gross rent	$813	$792
Housing units	12,886	13,434
Homeownership rate	69.8%	71.3%
Bachelor's degree or higher	25.7%	21.0%
Unemployment rate	3.5%	3.5%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Marion County	Polk County
Population	28,608 → 28,493 (-0.4%)	31,748 → 32,109 (+1.1%)
Median household income	$48,784 → $63,908 (+31.0%)	$45,660 → $56,686 (+24.1%)
Median home value	$123,400 → $158,100 (+28.1%)	$132,300 → $189,600 (+43.3%)
Median gross rent	$665 → $813 (+22.3%)	$701 → $792 (+13.0%)

Marion County

Population

28,60828,493

Median household income

$48,784$63,908

Median home value

$123,400$158,100

Median gross rent

$665$813

Polk County

Population

31,74832,109

Median household income

$45,660$56,686

Median home value

$132,300$189,600

Median gross rent

$701$792

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Marion County	Polk County
Under 5	6.9%	6.2%
5 to 17	16.8%	17.2%
18 to 24	8.7%	11.0%
25 to 34	11.7%	11.6%
35 to 44	12.4%	11.4%
45 to 54	11.4%	11.0%
55 to 64	13.4%	13.4%
65 to 74	11.1%	10.1%
75 and over	7.5%	8.0%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Marion County	Polk County
White (non-Hispanic)	89.4%	92.2%
Black or African American	5.2%	0.8%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.2%	0.3%
Asian	0.3%	0.7%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.1%	0.2%
Two or more races	2.7%	2.9%
Hispanic or Latino	2.0%	2.8%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Marion County	Polk County
No high school diploma	9.6%	11.2%
High school graduate	39.2%	36.6%
Some college or associate's	25.4%	31.2%
Bachelor's degree	15.8%	12.5%
Graduate or professional degree	9.9%	8.5%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Marion County	Polk County
Drove alone	77.9%	78.8%
Carpooled	10.4%	8.9%
Public transit	0.3%	0.1%
Walked	3.7%	2.3%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.5%
Worked from home	6.1%	8.7%
Other means	1.6%	0.7%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Marion County	Polk County
1-unit, detached	75.0%	76.5%
1-unit, attached	2.4%	1.5%
2 to 4 units	10.6%	8.0%
5 to 19 units	4.2%	2.2%
20 or more units	3.4%	1.4%
Mobile home & other	4.6%	10.3%

Poverty & households

	Marion County	Polk County
Poverty rate	13.6%	17.9%
Average household size	2.41	2.56
Mean commute (minutes)	18	28
Median year structure built	1970	1987