Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Cape Girardeau gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $219K, 3.3 years of the Cape Girardeau metro’s $67K median household income. It grades C− overall, ranked 203rd of 247 in Missouri. The low prices come with trade-offs. Its crime rate is higher than 88% of U.S. towns, with 192 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025, and FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 82% of U.S. communities, with earthquakes at the top. On the plus side, it has 24 miles of trail. 47% of working residents work locally in Cape Girardeau, above both the Missouri town median (13%) and the median of U.S. towns (8%). Its National Register listings include Jefferson School and Oliver-Leming House. Cape Girardeau is more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns.
Where Cape Girardeau beats most towns.
Its founding year, 1793, comes before those of 98% of the Missouri towns we grade with a known year. Its 48 National Register listings are more than in 97% of Missouri towns with a listing.
Census counts: 2,663 in 1860, 39,540 in 2020. The archive holds 11 old photos and papers going back to 1826 and 4 maps from 1922 on.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Missouri), ordered by how far Cape Girardeau is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Cape Girardeau, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Cape Girardeau.
Cape Girardeau draws workers from Jackson and beyond and is healthier than towns with similar incomes, but it has a long record of flood insurance claims.
The trail density in Cape Girardeau is 0.8 miles per square mile. The biggest place to walk is Cape Girardeau County Park North, 162 acres with 2.1 miles of trail.
| Cape Girardeau | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.8 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 4.9% | 2.1% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Cape Girardeau County Park North | 2.1 mi | 162 |
| 2. Osage Park | 1.5 mi | 51 |
| 3. Capaha Park | 1 mi | 38 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Cape Girardeau 63 school district. Three of its 16 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Central JR. HighLargest public middle schoolGrades 7–8 | Grades 7–8 | 633 | B− |
| Central HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,278 | B |
| Blanchard Elem.Top results in townGrades PK–4 | Grades PK–4 | 326 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MO on state tests and graduation
24,951 jobs are based in Cape Girardeau, 1.6 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. The average commute takes 15.9 minutes, against 23.5 across Missouri.
Cape Girardeau’s average trip to work is 16 minutes. Since 2013, Cape Girardeau has lost 3,660 jobs, to 24,951 in 2023. 21% of residents live below the poverty line in Cape Girardeau.
| Cape Girardeau | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 16 minutes | 22 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 21% | 14% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $56,000 | $62,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 7.9% | 9% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Reported crimes fell from 1,302 to 899 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Cape Girardeau reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 88% report less.
| Cape Girardeau | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 4.7 per 1,000 residents | 2.2 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 17.2 per 1,000 residents | 12.4 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
737 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 48 properties have flooded more than once.
Since 1978, 737 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Cape Girardeau.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Adults 18 to 34 are 33% of residents (22% statewide); adults 35 to 64 are 30% of residents (37% statewide). 17% of Cape Girardeau residents are under 18. Cape Girardeau has grown 3.6% since 2020, to 40,977 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| Cape Girardeau | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 17% | 23% | 22% |
| Median age | 34.5 years | 38.5 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 35% | 22% | 29% |
| Aged 65 or older | 20% | 17% | 18% |
53% women, 47% men
About 90 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±1.2 points). Across Missouri, 50.7% of residents are women. Median age: women 35.6, men 33.7.
| Cape Girardeau | MO | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 9.4% | 11.9% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 8% | 10.4% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 20.6% | 9.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 12.6% | 13.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 11% | 12.8% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 9% | 11.6% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 9.7% | 13% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 10.4% | 10.6% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 9.3% | 7.3% | 7% |
| No diploma | 8.6% | 8.1% | 10.4% |
| High school | 29.8% | 30.2% | 26% |
| Some college | 20.2% | 20.8% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 6.4% | 8.4% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 21% | 19.8% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 13.9% | 12.6% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Cape Girardeau has chilly winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 89°, January nights drop to 26° and about 8 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Against the 7,628 U.S. towns with household incomes like Cape Girardeau’s, it is healthier than 62%, so its C isn’t only a matter of income. Within Missouri it is healthier than 55% of the 247 graded towns: much of Missouri scores lower on these measures.
Cape Girardeau beats the Missouri average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 5.
| Cape Girardeau | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 19% | 17% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 30% | 25% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 15% | 14% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 17% | 14% |
| What stands out | Cape Girardeau | MO |
|---|---|---|
| More adults without reliable transportation | 11.1% | 8.4% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 17.4% | 13.7% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 11% | 9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Typical home values rose 4.4% in the year to September 2026.
| Cape Girardeau | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 54% | 64% | 73% |
| Median rent | $876 a month | $972 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 48% | 43% | 48% |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
2 within 15 miles of the center of Cape Girardeau
College town 16 of every 100 Cape Girardeau residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Missouri.
2 colleges in town.
48 places in Cape Girardeau on the National Register of Historic Places.
39 notable people were born in Cape Girardeau.
City in Missouri, United States
Cape Girardeau ( jirr-AR-doh, French: Cap-Girardeau [kap ʒiʁaʁdo] ; colloquially referred to as "Cape") is a city in Cape Girardeau and Scott counties in the U.S. state of Missouri. The population was 39,540 at the 2020 census, making it the 17th-largest city in the state. It is a principal city of the Cape Girardeau–Jackson metropolitan area with 97,517 residents. Cape Girardeau is the economic center of southeastern Missouri and the home of Southeast Missouri State University. It is located approximately 100 miles (160 km) southeast of St. Louis and 150 miles (240 km) north of Memphis, Tennessee.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Cape Girardeau.
| Town | MO rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cape Girardeau | #203 | C− | B | D | C+ | C |
| Jackson | #51 | A− | B+ | B | A− | B+ |
| Scott City | #150 | C | A− | C+ | B− | C− |
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Cape Girardeau grades C− overall, better than 17% of U.S. towns and #203 of 247 in Missouri. It grades C for health, D for safety and C+ for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a D.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B.
39 notable people were born here, including Rush Limbaugh and Linda M. Godwin.
