county

Benton County, MO

Demographic and economic profile of Benton County, MO, sourced from the US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) via Data USA.

AI Overview

Benton County is a small, rural Missouri county of roughly 19,900 residents with an older population (median age 54.5) and a notably low labor force participation rate of 43.7%, reflecting its retirement-skewed demographic. The available workforce is largely high-school educated—only 15.2% hold a bachelor's degree or higher—with median worker earnings of $34,972 and a 3.9% unemployment rate. Housing costs are low, with a median home value of $164,700 and median gross rent of $823/month, and the county posted 4.7% population growth over five years despite a poverty rate of 16.7%.

Claude Sonnet 4.6 · generated Jul 6, 2026 · derived from cached Census, BEA & ACS data on this page

Population

19,887

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$52,567

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

54.5 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

+4.7% since 2018

Benton County added population at this rate over the prior 5-year ACS5 window.

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone18,542 (92.0%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race623 (3.1%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races474 (2.4%)
  • Black or African American Alone193 (1.0%)
  • Some Other Race Alone155 (0.8%)
  • American Indian & Alaska Native Alone86 (0.4%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.German or other West Germanic133
  2. 2.Spanish95
  3. 3.Tagalog (incl. Filipino)13
  4. 4.French (incl. Cajun, Haitian)9

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

17.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

51.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

31.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

0.9%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

2,006

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$22,084

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$30,994

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

3.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

16.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance1,762
  2. 2.Construction (Group)976
  3. 3.Manufacturing (Group)816
  4. 4.Retail Trade (Group)799
  5. 5.Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation, & Accommodation & Food Services519

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations2,236
  2. 2.Sales & Office Occupations1,314
  3. 3.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations1,233
  4. 4.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations1,128
  5. 5.Service Occupations1,093

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 2.27×)256
  2. 2.Construction (LQ 1.97×)963
  3. 3.Manufacturing (LQ 1.25×)880
  4. 4.Retail Trade (LQ 1.19×)912
  5. 5.Educational Services & Health Care (LQ 1.08×)1,786

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$164,700

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$823/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

83.8%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $200,000 to $249,999783 (10.9%)
  • $300,000 to $399,999693 (9.6%)
  • $100,000 to $124,999670 (9.3%)
  • $150,000 to $174,999612 (8.5%)
  • $250,000 to $299,999580 (8.1%)
  • $400,000 to $499,999570 (7.9%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

15.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

89.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

43.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$34,972

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

31.5 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

4.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone5,206 (76.6%)
  • Carpooled849 (12.5%)
  • Worked At Home518 (7.6%)
  • Walked136 (2.0%)
  • Other76 (1.1%)
  • Motorcycle6 (0.1%)

Data USA · as of 2024

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Data: US Census Bureau American Community Survey, served via Data USA and the Census Bureau API. See each metric tile for the specific dataset.