McDonald County vs Ray County

A side-by-side comparison of McDonald County and Ray County: population, income, housing, and more.

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

McDonald County has the higher population (23,492 vs 23,149 in Ray County). Ray County has the higher median household income ($72,152 vs $48,145 in McDonald County). Ray County has the higher median home value ($187,400 vs $134,100 in McDonald County).

Population, income & housing

	McDonald County	Ray County
Population	23,492	23,149
Median age	38.1 yrs	42.2 yrs
Median household income	$48,145	$72,152
Median home value	$134,100	$187,400
Median gross rent	$764	$808
Housing units	9,807	9,901
Homeownership rate	67.8%	77.5%
Bachelor's degree or higher	13.4%	15.0%
Unemployment rate	7.2%	2.1%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	McDonald County	Ray County
Population	22,782 → 23,492 (+3.1%)	22,875 → 23,149 (+1.2%)
Median household income	$41,643 → $48,145 (+15.6%)	$61,957 → $72,152 (+16.5%)
Median home value	$110,500 → $134,100 (+21.4%)	$133,700 → $187,400 (+40.2%)
Median gross rent	$631 → $764 (+21.1%)	$717 → $808 (+12.7%)

McDonald County

Population

22,78223,492

Median household income

$41,643$48,145

Median home value

$110,500$134,100

Median gross rent

$631$764

Ray County

Population

22,87523,149

Median household income

$61,957$72,152

Median home value

$133,700$187,400

Median gross rent

$717$808

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	McDonald County	Ray County
Under 5	6.5%	5.5%
5 to 17	19.1%	17.3%
18 to 24	7.9%	7.2%
25 to 34	12.0%	11.0%
35 to 44	12.0%	12.2%
45 to 54	12.6%	12.5%
55 to 64	14.1%	15.6%
65 to 74	9.6%	11.0%
75 and over	6.2%	7.7%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	McDonald County	Ray County
White (non-Hispanic)	68.7%	92.5%
Black or African American	1.9%	1.2%
American Indian & Alaska Native	1.2%	0.3%
Asian	1.2%	0.3%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	3.2%	0.0%
Some other race	0.9%	0.5%
Two or more races	10.5%	2.4%
Hispanic or Latino	12.3%	2.8%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	McDonald County	Ray County
No high school diploma	18.7%	9.8%
High school graduate	40.8%	43.2%
Some college or associate's	27.1%	32.0%
Bachelor's degree	9.1%	11.2%
Graduate or professional degree	4.3%	3.8%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	McDonald County	Ray County
Drove alone	76.5%	79.0%
Carpooled	11.5%	8.2%
Public transit	0.1%	0.6%
Walked	1.1%	1.2%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	8.4%	10.3%
Other means	2.5%	0.5%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	McDonald County	Ray County
1-unit, detached	64.4%	85.0%
1-unit, attached	0.5%	0.5%
2 to 4 units	5.9%	8.4%
5 to 19 units	3.5%	1.5%
20 or more units	0.5%	0.2%
Mobile home & other	25.2%	4.4%

Poverty & households

	McDonald County	Ray County
Poverty rate	17.2%	12.0%
Average household size	2.74	2.53
Mean commute (minutes)	27	32
Median year structure built	1986	1974