Best PlacesCape Girardeau County, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Cape Girardeau County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Cape Girardeau County ranks 1,610th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Cape Girardeau County
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
Cape Girardeau County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Cape Girardeau County ranks high
- Cheap childcare$470 a month, better than 94% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 83% of counties
- Short commute19.5 minutes each way, better than 81% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 74% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 71% of counties
Where Cape Girardeau County ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 61 pleasant days a year, better than only 7% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 13% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 23% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 25% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 26% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Cape Girardeau County
A household needs to earn about $58,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Cape Girardeau County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $71,043, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Cape Girardeau County's effective rate of 0.61%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Cape Girardeau County
Cape Girardeau County's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Cape Girardeau County.
Who works in Cape Girardeau County, and how
Work in Cape Girardeau County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Cape Girardeau County
Cape Girardeau County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 73% of counties and more parkland per resident than 89% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Cape Girardeau County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Cape Girardeau County growing, and who is moving in?
Cape Girardeau County has grown about 7% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from St Louis, MO.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Cape Girardeau County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Cape Girardeau County, month by month
Cape Girardeau County sees roughly 61 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 28. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 36° | 28° |
| April | 70° | 58° | 48° |
| July | 90° | 79° | 71° |
| October | 74° | 60° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Cape Girardeau County
The nearest airport, Cape Girardeau Regional, is about 9 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 105 miles away.
The best schools in and around Cape Girardeau County
Schools across Cape Girardeau County average a C+, better than 53% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Advance Elem.A · 63% proficient
- West Lane Elem.B+ · 55% proficient
- Altenburg Elem.B+ · 52% proficient
Top middle schools
- Russell Hawkins Jr. HighB · 45% proficient
- Jackson MiddleB · 43% proficient
- Central Jr. HighC+ · 38% proficient
Top high schools
- Jackson Sr. HighB · 50% proficient
- Leopold HighB− · 40% proficient
- Central HighC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Cape Girardeau County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Cape Girardeau County measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Cape Girardeau County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Cape Girardeau County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 74% of counties and 9% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Cape Girardeau County
Is Cape Girardeau County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Cape Girardeau County ranks 1,610th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on affordable childcare, an educated workforce, and short commutes, and lowest on the weather and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Cape Girardeau County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $226,692. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $71,043 median income, cost of living beats 74% of counties.
Is Cape Girardeau County safe?
Cape Girardeau County is safer than 44% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $463 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Cape Girardeau County?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 44 with lows near 28. That works out to about 61 pleasant days a year, more than 7% of counties.
Is Cape Girardeau County good for families?
Schools beat 53% of counties, crime safety beats 44%, and childcare runs $470 a month.
Compare Cape Girardeau County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Cape Girardeau County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Cape Girardeau County represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Cape Girardeau County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Cape Girardeau County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Cape Girardeau County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Cape Girardeau County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Cape Girardeau County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Cape Girardeau County detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.