Mercer County vs Putnam County

A side-by-side comparison of Mercer County and Putnam County: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Putnam County has the higher population (4,675 vs 3,501 in Mercer County). Mercer County has the higher median household income ($60,357 vs $56,875 in Putnam County). Putnam County has the higher median home value ($111,600 vs $95,300 in Mercer County).

Population, income & housing

	Mercer County	Putnam County
Population	3,501	4,675
Median age	40.8 yrs	45.6 yrs
Median household income	$60,357	$56,875
Median home value	$95,300	$111,600
Median gross rent	$548	$575
Housing units	1,908	2,845
Homeownership rate	79.1%	81.2%
Bachelor's degree or higher	17.9%	19.3%
Unemployment rate	2.3%	3.8%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Mercer County	Putnam County
Population	3,644 → 3,501 (-3.9%)	4,781 → 4,675 (-2.2%)
Median household income	$47,298 → $60,357 (+27.6%)	$42,849 → $56,875 (+32.7%)
Median home value	$88,900 → $95,300 (+7.2%)	$96,600 → $111,600 (+15.5%)
Median gross rent	$495 → $548 (+10.7%)	$572 → $575 (+0.5%)

Mercer County

Population

3,6443,501

Median household income

$47,298$60,357

Median home value

$88,900$95,300

Median gross rent

$495$548

Putnam County

Population

4,7814,675

Median household income

$42,849$56,875

Median home value

$96,600$111,600

Median gross rent

$572$575

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Mercer County	Putnam County
Under 5	7.1%	6.2%
5 to 17	16.9%	16.1%
18 to 24	7.9%	4.8%
25 to 34	10.5%	11.7%
35 to 44	11.2%	10.8%
45 to 54	9.8%	11.1%
55 to 64	14.7%	14.2%
65 to 74	12.2%	14.2%
75 and over	9.5%	10.9%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Mercer County	Putnam County
White (non-Hispanic)	91.5%	95.3%
Black or African American	0.3%	0.1%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.4%	0.4%
Asian	1.0%	0.0%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	0.0%
Two or more races	2.4%	1.3%
Hispanic or Latino	4.4%	2.8%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Mercer County	Putnam County
No high school diploma	9.4%	6.1%
High school graduate	43.9%	40.0%
Some college or associate's	28.8%	34.6%
Bachelor's degree	13.3%	13.6%
Graduate or professional degree	4.6%	5.7%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Mercer County	Putnam County
Drove alone	72.4%	77.8%
Carpooled	9.7%	11.8%
Public transit	0.0%	0.0%
Walked	1.6%	1.0%
Bicycle	1.7%	0.0%
Worked from home	13.7%	9.3%
Other means	0.9%	0.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Mercer County	Putnam County
1-unit, detached	81.9%	81.1%
1-unit, attached	0.9%	1.4%
2 to 4 units	3.8%	6.2%
5 to 19 units	1.2%	0.3%
20 or more units	3.8%	0.0%
Mobile home & other	8.4%	11.0%

Poverty & households

	Mercer County	Putnam County
Poverty rate	14.7%	16.2%
Average household size	2.66	2.45
Mean commute (minutes)	24	20
Median year structure built	1971	1977