County Maps US

Cape Girardeau County, Missouri

A county in Missouri, ranked 14 of 115 by population.

CountyFIPS 29031

Within Missouri
Cape Girardeau County, highlighted, with the areas around it. Boundaries generalised from the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file; neighbour fills carry no data. The dot marks Jackson, the county seat, located via the 2025 Census Gazetteer.

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Population
83,999
+2,188 (+2.7%) since 2020
Land area
578.5
square miles. A further 1.3% of the total area is water
Population density
145
people per square mile, computed rather than published
County seat
Jackson
Seat of county government.
Established
1812
213 years ago
Largest city
Cape Girardeau city
Population 40,977 for the whole place, which extends beyond this county.

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; Wikidata (CC0), Wikidata. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

Satellite view

Aerial imagery of Cape Girardeau County with its boundary drawn on top. A map shows you the shape; this shows you what is inside it, and which side of the line a place falls on.

Aerial view of Cape Girardeau County, Missouri from the USGS National Map, with its boundary outlined
Imagery: USGS National Map, USGS Imagery Only, public domain, requested from USGS by your browser when you reach this point on the page, at 612 by 800 pixels. The boundary is the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file, reprojected to Web Mercator to match the imagery. You can also open the USGS National Map viewer.

Where Cape Girardeau County ranks

Position among the 115 counties of Missouri, and among all 3,144 US counties and county-equivalents. Computed from the figures on this page.

MeasureValueIn MissouriNationally
Population83,99914th of 115696th of 3,144
Land area578.5 sq mi59th of 1151,707th of 3,144
Population density145 per sq mi16th of 115715th of 3,144
Median household income$68,46425th of 1151,304th of 3,143

Full data for Cape Girardeau County

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population83,999Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 202081,811Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?81,706Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area578.5 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area7.8 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area586.4 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?145 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$68,464American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$220,700American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age37.1American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households32,454American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units36,086American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; US Census Bureau, American Community Survey, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates, released 29 January 2026. Population density is computed here, not published: it divides the Vintage 2025 population estimate by the 2025 Gazetteer land area, which are two different Census products. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

How the population changed

The Census Bureau publishes the components behind an estimate, not just the total. For the year to July 2025:

Births minus deaths
+11
876 births, 865 deaths
Net migration
+529
More people moved in than moved out.

Source: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

The 6 areas bordering Cape Girardeau County

Ordered by the length of the border actually shared, which the Census Bureau publishes in its county adjacency file and which no other county reference presents.

Bordering areaStateShared borderPopulation
Perry CountyMissouri34 mi19,093
Bollinger CountyMissouri33 mi10,646
Scott CountyMissouri25 mi37,975
Union CountyIllinois20 mi16,656
Alexander CountyIllinois6.9 mi4,570
Stoddard CountyMissouri5.6 mi28,284

Source: US Census Bureau, County Adjacency File, 2025 County Adjacency File, released 15 September 2025. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

All 115 counties of Missouri

Open the interactive Missouri county map, or jump straight to any of them.

Data on this page last rebuilt 30 August 2026. How these figures are produced.