Cape Girardeau, MO

The affordability dashboard for Cape Girardeau, MO aggregates Census ACS 5-Year Estimates across 2 ZIP codes covering 44,994 residents, then layers in county-level federal data to produce an overall grade of C+ (64/100). The headline inputs are median household income of $61,570, median home value of $202,052, median rent of $867 per month, and 34.6% of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher. These four metrics alone explain most of the variance between city dashboards.

Cross-agency feeds widen the picture beyond Census demographics. HUD publishes a Fair Market Rent for a 2-bedroom in this county at $992 per month (studio $763, 1BR $807, 3BR $1,380, 4BR $1,664).

Reading the overall grade requires reading all seven dimensions together. The score weights Income 20%, Safety 20%, Housing 15%, Rent 15%, Education 10%, Commute 10%, and Childcare 10%, with each sub-score benchmarked against national percentiles rather than state averages — so the grade is genuinely comparable across any city in the country. Strengths visible in the raw data for Cape Girardeau, MO include commute, rent. Unemployment currently reads 2.5% and poverty 19.4% — numbers worth keeping alongside the headline grade.