McDonald County vs Washington County

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

McDonald County and Washington 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 23,483 in Washington County). Washington County has the higher median household income ($51,886 vs $48,145 in McDonald County). McDonald County has the higher median home value ($134,100 vs $118,400 in Washington County).

Population, income & housing

	McDonald County	Washington County
Population	23,492	23,483
Median age	38.1 yrs	40.2 yrs
Median household income	$48,145	$51,886
Median home value	$134,100	$118,400
Median gross rent	$764	$680
Housing units	9,807	10,736
Homeownership rate	67.8%	76.3%
Bachelor's degree or higher	13.4%	12.4%
Unemployment rate	7.2%	3.8%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	McDonald County	Washington County
Population	22,782 → 23,492 (+3.1%)	24,860 → 23,483 (-5.5%)
Median household income	$41,643 → $48,145 (+15.6%)	$41,483 → $51,886 (+25.1%)
Median home value	$110,500 → $134,100 (+21.4%)	$94,400 → $118,400 (+25.4%)
Median gross rent	$631 → $764 (+21.1%)	$588 → $680 (+15.6%)

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

Washington County

Population

24,86023,483

Median household income

$41,483$51,886

Median home value

$94,400$118,400

Median gross rent

$588$680

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	McDonald County	Washington County
Under 5	6.5%	5.5%
5 to 17	19.1%	17.8%
18 to 24	7.9%	6.9%
25 to 34	12.0%	12.1%
35 to 44	12.0%	12.3%
45 to 54	12.6%	13.1%
55 to 64	14.1%	14.9%
65 to 74	9.6%	10.8%
75 and over	6.2%	6.6%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	McDonald County	Washington County
White (non-Hispanic)	68.7%	91.8%
Black or African American	1.9%	1.9%
American Indian & Alaska Native	1.2%	0.0%
Asian	1.2%	0.1%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	3.2%	0.1%
Some other race	0.9%	0.1%
Two or more races	10.5%	4.9%
Hispanic or Latino	12.3%	1.0%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	McDonald County	Washington County
No high school diploma	18.7%	16.8%
High school graduate	40.8%	43.6%
Some college or associate's	27.1%	27.1%
Bachelor's degree	9.1%	8.3%
Graduate or professional degree	4.3%	4.1%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	McDonald County	Washington County
Drove alone	76.5%	83.3%
Carpooled	11.5%	12.8%
Public transit	0.1%	0.0%
Walked	1.1%	0.8%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	8.4%	3.0%
Other means	2.5%	0.2%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	McDonald County	Washington County
1-unit, detached	64.4%	66.8%
1-unit, attached	0.5%	0.6%
2 to 4 units	5.9%	4.1%
5 to 19 units	3.5%	0.8%
20 or more units	0.5%	0.0%
Mobile home & other	25.2%	27.7%

Poverty & households

	McDonald County	Washington County
Poverty rate	17.2%	18.2%
Average household size	2.74	2.54
Mean commute (minutes)	27	36
Median year structure built	1986	1984