county

McDonald County, MO

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

AI Overview

McDonald County is a small, rural Missouri county of 23,492 residents with a notably high foreign-born population share of 11.0%, suggesting a labor force shaped by immigrant workers, likely tied to regional poultry and food-processing industries. The workforce is predominantly non-college-educated—only 13.4% hold a bachelor's degree or higher—with median worker earnings of $33,560, a labor force participation rate of 56.6%, and an unemployment rate of 7.2%. Housing costs remain low, with a median home value of $134,100 and median gross rent of $764/month, and the county posted modest population growth of 2.9% over five years despite a poverty rate of 17.2%.

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

Population

23,492

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$52,375

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

38.2 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

+2.9% since 2018

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

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone16,618 (70.1%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race2,302 (9.7%)
  • Some Other Race Alone1,631 (6.9%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races1,099 (4.6%)
  • Native Hawaiian & Other Pacific Islander Alone910 (3.8%)
  • Black or African American Alone466 (2.0%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish1,985
  2. 2.Other Asian and Pacific Island782
  3. 3.German or other West Germanic161
  4. 4.Other Indo-European49
  5. 5.French (incl. Cajun, Haitian)13

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

25.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

58.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

15.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

11.0%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

1,273

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$34,281

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$24,491

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

7.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

17.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Manufacturing (Group)2,268
  2. 2.Retail Trade (Group)1,567
  3. 3.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance1,562
  4. 4.Construction (Group)1,203
  5. 5.Professional, Scientific, & Management, & Administrative & Waste Management Services684

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations2,679
  2. 2.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations2,481
  3. 3.Service Occupations1,630
  4. 4.Sales & Office Occupations1,622
  5. 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations1,269

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Manufacturing (LQ 2.47×)2,343
  2. 2.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 1.80×)275
  3. 3.Construction (LQ 1.44×)954
  4. 4.Retail Trade (LQ 1.37×)1,428
  5. 5.Educational Services & Health Care (LQ 0.77×)1,728

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$134,100

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$764/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

67.3%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $100,000 to $124,999570 (9.9%)
  • $300,000 to $399,999520 (9.0%)
  • $200,000 to $249,999515 (8.9%)
  • $250,000 to $299,999484 (8.4%)
  • $150,000 to $174,999480 (8.3%)
  • $80,000 to $89,999329 (5.7%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

13.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

81.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

56.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$33,560

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

27.1 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

5.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone7,014 (74.1%)
  • Carpooled1,270 (13.4%)
  • Worked At Home762 (8.1%)
  • Other185 (2.0%)
  • Walked154 (1.6%)
  • Motorcycle49 (0.5%)

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.