Metro Life Score
Cape Girardeau, MO-IL
Below-median composite Life Score — grade B-, 48th percentile of the national corpus.
- 49.3
- Life Score / 100
- B-
- Grade (curved)
- #202
- of 387 metros
- 48%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census · Report a data issue · Data changelog
The verdict
Cape Girardeau is below-median composite Life Score — #202 of 387 (49.3/100, grade B-, 48th percentile). Carried by cost of living at 94/100; held back most by wages at 5/100.
- 48th
- composite percentile
- #202
- of 387 peers
- 94th
- cost dimension percentile
- 5th
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · MID · COST-LED · signature wages
Cape Girardeau: wage lag defines the peer set
Cape Girardeau is a MID-band metro where wages sit at only the 5th percentile (LOW) while cost is FLOOR (94th) and composite #202. Wages at 5/100 is the clearest drag; Cost of Living (94/100) is the offset. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Cape Girardeau, MO-IL ranks #202 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #24 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 86.1 (rent-RPP 56.4). BLS median salary $55,399, 37,860 jobs (Home Health and Personal Care Aides, Registered Nurses, Retail Salespersons). HUD 2BR FMR $992/mo (studio $763).
FBI UCR (MO): 463 violent, 1972 property/100K. NCES: 12.2:1 ratio, 3.5% charter. EPA: 39 Superfund sites (MO).
Where Cape Girardeau sits among all US metros
Composite Life Score vs the national field
49 48th percentile higher than 48% of 387 US metros
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more US metros. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source PlainCompare composite of BEA, BLS, HUD, FBI, NCES, DOL, EPA data · August 2026
How the 49.3 is built
Cape Girardeau's Life Score, decomposed
Dimension detail
How Cape Girardeau scores, dimension by dimension
Score Breakdown
Dimension Scores
Key Data Points
Geography used: crime, schools, childcare, and environment cards above are MO state-level when metro-specific feeds are unavailable, see the scope key at the top of this page.
Compare Cape Girardeau With...
Ranking Context
Cape Girardeau outranks 48% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #199 | York-Hanover, PA | 49.4 | B- |
| #200 | Jonesboro, AR | 49.4 | B- |
| #201 | Springfield, MO | 49.7 | B- |
| #202 | Cape Girardeau, MO-IL | 49.3 | B- |
| #203 | Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA | 49.3 | B- |
| #204 | Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN | 49.2 | B- |
| #205 | Reno, NV | 49.2 | B- |
Quality vs. Affordability
Cape Girardeau, MO-IL is bottom 48% lowest-quality nationally and also top 6% most affordable -- a rarer combination among its composite-quality peers, where overall rank and affordability rank usually diverge more than this.
MO Metro Scores
Read with Cape Girardeau
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for Cape Girardeau (MID · COST-LED · FLOOR/LOW), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA
ABS(composite) peer at 49.3 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade B- vs this page's MID · COST-LED · FLOOR/LOW.
Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN
ABS(composite) peer at 49.2 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade B- vs this page's MID · COST-LED · FLOOR/LOW.
Reno, NV
ABS(composite) peer at 49.2 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade B- vs this page's MID · COST-LED · FLOOR/LOW.
Jonesboro, AR
ABS(composite) peer at 49.4 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade B- vs this page's MID · COST-LED · FLOOR/LOW.
Brownsville-Harlingen, TX (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 94/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp FLOOR vs this metro's FLOOR.
Paducah, KY-IL (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 94/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp FLOOR vs this metro's FLOOR.
Cape Girardeau, MO-IL relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for MID · COST-LED · FLOOR/LOW - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.
Using Cape Girardeau's middle-third Life Score
Cape Girardeau scores 49.3/100 overall, but Cost of Living (94.0) and Wages (4.9) sit 89.1 points apart, so decide which of the two matters more to you before leaning on the total.
- Cost of Living is the strongest of Cape Girardeau's seven dimensions (weighted 20% in the composite); if it is your priority, this is where the metro earns its rank. See all seven dimensions
- Wages is the weakest (weighted 20% in the composite); if it is a dealbreaker, weigh it before the ranking does. Rank metros on the composite
- St. Joseph is the nearest comparison this page can offer; put the two side by side on the same seven dimensions. Compare with St. Joseph
A middle-third composite is a weighted blend; individual dimensions can sit well above or below it.