McDonald County vs Saline County

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

McDonald County and Saline 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 23,177 in Saline County). Saline County has the higher median household income ($56,566 vs $48,145 in McDonald County). Saline County has the higher median home value ($139,600 vs $134,100 in McDonald County).

Population, income & housing

	McDonald County	Saline County
Population	23,492	23,177
Median age	38.1 yrs	35.4 yrs
Median household income	$48,145	$56,566
Median home value	$134,100	$139,600
Median gross rent	$764	$733
Housing units	9,807	9,833
Homeownership rate	67.8%	70.8%
Bachelor's degree or higher	13.4%	26.0%
Unemployment rate	7.2%	2.5%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	McDonald County	Saline County
Population	22,782 → 23,492 (+3.1%)	22,976 → 23,177 (+0.9%)
Median household income	$41,643 → $48,145 (+15.6%)	$44,720 → $56,566 (+26.5%)
Median home value	$110,500 → $134,100 (+21.4%)	$106,600 → $139,600 (+31.0%)
Median gross rent	$631 → $764 (+21.1%)	$640 → $733 (+14.5%)

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

Saline County

Population

22,97623,177

Median household income

$44,720$56,566

Median home value

$106,600$139,600

Median gross rent

$640$733

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	McDonald County	Saline County
Under 5	6.5%	5.6%
5 to 17	19.1%	16.3%
18 to 24	7.9%	14.5%
25 to 34	12.0%	12.9%
35 to 44	12.0%	10.9%
45 to 54	12.6%	9.9%
55 to 64	14.1%	12.6%
65 to 74	9.6%	9.8%
75 and over	6.2%	7.6%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	McDonald County	Saline County
White (non-Hispanic)	68.7%	76.3%
Black or African American	1.9%	4.6%
American Indian & Alaska Native	1.2%	0.1%
Asian	1.2%	0.8%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	3.2%	0.7%
Some other race	0.9%	0.7%
Two or more races	10.5%	4.5%
Hispanic or Latino	12.3%	12.2%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	McDonald County	Saline County
No high school diploma	18.7%	12.4%
High school graduate	40.8%	34.8%
Some college or associate's	27.1%	26.8%
Bachelor's degree	9.1%	16.8%
Graduate or professional degree	4.3%	9.2%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	McDonald County	Saline County
Drove alone	76.5%	79.7%
Carpooled	11.5%	9.3%
Public transit	0.1%	0.0%
Walked	1.1%	4.3%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.1%
Worked from home	8.4%	5.3%
Other means	2.5%	1.2%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	McDonald County	Saline County
1-unit, detached	64.4%	77.3%
1-unit, attached	0.5%	1.6%
2 to 4 units	5.9%	7.4%
5 to 19 units	3.5%	3.1%
20 or more units	0.5%	3.0%
Mobile home & other	25.2%	7.5%

Poverty & households

	McDonald County	Saline County
Poverty rate	17.2%	14.7%
Average household size	2.74	2.70
Mean commute (minutes)	27	17
Median year structure built	1986	1970