A report released last month by the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center showed Cape Girardeau had the highest cost of living of six participating metro areas in Missouri, though the cost of living in Cape Girardeau is still 5% below the national average.

Jason Strickland, spokesman with the Missouri Department of Higher Education & Workforce Development, said Cape Girardeau's housing costs are 81.5% and health costs are 78.9% of the national average. While that's good for those buying homes in the area, those home indices are still higher than Joplin, Springfield and St. Louis, though lower than Columbia and Kansas City, according to the study.

Cape Girardeau exceeds the national average, according to the data, in costs for groceries (103.8%), transportation (110.8%) and miscellaneous (100.8%), he said. Cape Girardeau had the highest prices for those categories when compared to the other five Missouri metro areas. The miscellaneous category includes cost for, among other things, entertainment, such as movie tickets.

Cape Girardeau has the smallest population of all the metro areas considered in the report. The data includes the greater metropolitan statistical area, which consists of all of Cape Girardeau County, Bollinger County and Scott City in Missouri; and a portion of Alexander County in Illinois. The MSA has a population of 98,275.

Tyler Bains, a cost of living index project manager and senior research analyst with the not-for-profit Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness, which compiled the data, said the organization, when calculating the overall cost of living index, updates weights for prices once a year using the Consumer Expenditure Survey produced by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. He said the survey intends to capture how the average consumer (a professional/managerial household) spends money.

The study said Joplin had the lowest cost of living of the Missouri metro areas. The data surprised some in the Cape Girardeau area, particularly considering the study placed the cost of living higher than St. Louis and Kansas City.

In the Southeast Missouri region, many workers consider the St. Louis area when searching for employment opportunities. When considering the cost of living, U.S. Census Bureau data shows St. Louis and St. Louis County support higher incomes and lower poverty rates than Cape Girardeau and Cape Girardeau County. Home values here are lower than in the St. Louis and St. Louis County, as are mortgage and rent costs.

Here are some numbers compiled from the U.S. Census Bureau comparing Cape Girardeau city and county with St. Louis and St. Louis County. Most of the numbers are from 2021, the most recent data available:

Median household income

Cape Girardeau County: $59,252

Cape Girardeau: $48,055

St. Louis County: $72,562

St. Louis: $48,751

Per capita income last 12 months (in 2021 dollars)

Cape Girardeau County: $29,087

Cape Girardeau: $26,793

St. Louis County: $45,307

St. Louis: $33,326

Median value of owner-occupied housing units

Cape Girardeau County: $167,100

Cape Girardeau: $157,200

St. Louis County: $220,100

St. Louis: $153,200

Median monthly owner costs, with a mortgage (2017-21)

Cape Girardeau County: $1,222

Cape Girardeau: $1,175

St. Louis County: $1,585

St. Louis: $1,328

Median gross rent (2017-21)

Cape Girardeau County: $804

Cape Girardeau: $779

St. Louis County: $1,032

St. Louis: $873

Persons in poverty, percent

Cape Girardeau County: 12.4

Cape Girardeau: 22.1

St. Louis County: 10.5

St. Louis: 19.6