county

Lafayette County, MO

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

AI Overview

Lafayette County is a small rural county of roughly 33,000 residents with a median household income of $80,612 and a notably low unemployment rate of 2.2%, suggesting a tight local labor market despite a labor force participation rate of 62.1%. The workforce skews toward practical skills, with 90.8% holding a high school diploma but only 24.4% attaining a bachelor's degree or higher, and median worker earnings of $41,285. Housing costs remain modest—median home value of $200,300 and median gross rent of $848/month—supported by a 76.5% homeownership rate, while the county posted modest 1.2% population growth over five years.

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

Population

32,974

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$80,612

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

40.9 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

+1.2% since 2018

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

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone30,066 (90.8%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races1,059 (3.2%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race767 (2.3%)
  • Black or African American Alone514 (1.6%)
  • Some Other Race Alone506 (1.5%)
  • Asian Alone123 (0.4%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish645
  2. 2.German or other West Germanic365
  3. 3.Tagalog (incl. Filipino)49
  4. 4.Chinese (incl. Mandarin, Cantonese)35
  5. 5.Korean26

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

23.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

58.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

18.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

2.3%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

2,415

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$26,252

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$35,510

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

2.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

9.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance3,834
  2. 2.Manufacturing (Group)1,951
  3. 3.Retail Trade (Group)1,786
  4. 4.Construction (Group)1,435
  5. 5.Professional, Scientific, & Management, & Administrative & Waste Management Services1,361

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations6,153
  2. 2.Sales & Office Occupations3,090
  3. 3.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations2,644
  4. 4.Service Occupations2,269
  5. 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations2,045

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 1.76×)450
  2. 2.Transportation, Warehousing, & Utilities (LQ 1.62×)1,514
  3. 3.Construction (LQ 1.24×)1,375
  4. 4.Public Administration (LQ 1.08×)814
  5. 5.Retail Trade (LQ 1.08×)1,873

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$200,300

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$848/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

75.7%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $200,000 to $249,9991,430 (15.0%)
  • $300,000 to $399,9991,160 (12.2%)
  • $250,000 to $299,9991,158 (12.2%)
  • $150,000 to $174,999905 (9.5%)
  • $175,000 to $199,999673 (7.1%)
  • $500,000 to $749,999661 (6.9%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

24.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

90.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

62.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$41,285

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

24.9 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

3.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone12,495 (79.4%)
  • Worked At Home1,422 (9.0%)
  • Carpooled1,376 (8.7%)
  • Walked251 (1.6%)
  • Other178 (1.1%)
  • Bicycle18 (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.