Missouri · County property tax · ACS 2024
Cape Girardeau County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Cape Girardeau County pays $1,421 a year, an effective rate of 0.64%, well below the U.S. average.
- $1,421
- Median tax / yr · Below-median bill
- 0.64%
- Effective rate · Below-median rate
- -29%
- vs U.S. average
- #76 of 115
- rank in MO
The verdict
Homeowners in Cape Girardeau County pay a median $1,421 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 0.64%, more affordable than 67% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $1,421
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 0.64%
- Effective rate on median home
- #1040 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- -29%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($220,700). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for Missouri. Population: 82,735. Owner-occupied homes: 21,666.
The median annual property tax in Cape Girardeau County is $1,421, which is 27% lower than the Missouri state average and 29% below the national average. The effective tax rate is 0.64% on a median home value of $220,700. Property taxes represent 2.1% of the median household income in this county.
Cape Girardeau County's rate standing among U.S. counties
Primary signal
The effective rate sits near the national middle
Cape Girardeau County's 0.64% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 67%).
Decision signal 2
The bill sits well below the national median
Homeowners in Cape Girardeau County pay a median annual property tax of $1,421, well below the national median and well below the Missouri state median. On a $220,700 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 0.64% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 3
Income and the tax bill sit in the middle band
Property taxes in Cape Girardeau County run within the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 2.1% of the $68,464 median household income.
Decision signal 4
Near the middle of Missouri counties by effective rate
Cape Girardeau County ranks #76 of 115 counties in Missouri by effective rate (34% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Cape Girardeau County as reported to the Census Bureau; your parcel can differ. Not tax, legal, or financial advice: check the county assessor or a qualified professional before decisions that depend on these numbers.
A falling rate took the edge off
Cape Girardeau County's effective rate fell 15.1% across the 4-year span while its median home value rose 35.9%, leaving the median bill 15.4% higher at $1,421. That rate move is larger than the one in 64% of counties, so a good deal of the market's rise never reached the bill.
Effective rate is the published median bill divided by the published median home value, so the two multiply back to the bill exactly; the rate's movement here is derived from those two figures rather than read from the rounded published rate. Both are ACS 5-year survey estimates for the median owner-occupied household, compared across non-overlapping releases. They describe what the Census published, not a local policy, assessment, or exemption change.
How to read this county's bill
Bills rose across 2020-2024, from $1,231 to $1,421, a gain of 15%. This is a comparison of published ACS medians, not an explanation of a particular property's assessment or tax bill.
The fullest band here is the $800 to $1,499 range, holding 7,853 of 21,666 owner-occupied homes (36.2%). The band shows where the largest share of reported owner-occupied households falls; it is not an individual-bill estimate.
Above-median earnings meet a slightly-below-median rate, and the median bill amounts to 2.1% of median household income. That is the comfortable middle of this dataset, and comfortable middles are easy to overlook when only rankings get published.
The share above is the median annual bill divided by median household income, a ratio of two county-level medians rather than a household-by-household figure.
What Cape Girardeau County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Cape Girardeau County homeowners, 7,853 of 21,666 owner-occupied homes (36.2%), pays $800 to $1,499 a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 16.6% (3,596)
- $800 to $1,499 36.2% (7,853)
- $1,500 to $1,999 18.3% (3,958)
- $2,000 to $2,999 17.2% (3,718)
- $3,000 or more 9.1% (1,967)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
574 homes here (2.6%) report no real estate tax at all. Exemptions are set by state: how Missouri handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
In Cape Girardeau County, mortgaged homeowners pay 15% more than those without a mortgage, a gap that typically tracks higher home values rather than a different tax rate.
Cape Girardeau County's effective rate vs peers
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value), ACS 2024.
Cape Girardeau County's effective rate is higher than 34% of the 115 counties in Missouri - ranking #76 of 115.
Where Cape Girardeau County sits among every U.S. county
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value)
0.64% Among the most affordable more affordable than 67% of 3,135 U.S. counties
Show national distribution
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more U.S. counties. 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 U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024
Below Missouri on both measures
Cape Girardeau County's effective rate runs 25% under the Missouri median and its bill 27% under. Both sitting on the same side means the gap is not a valuation artefact: a county can post a low rate purely because its homes are expensive, but then the bill rises to meet the state. Here it does not, so the $1,421 median bill reflects a genuinely lighter charge than the Missouri norm rather than a different denominator. Compare it against the state page before reading anything into the county rank.
Cape Girardeau County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Cape Girardeau County | Missouri Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Below-median bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate Below-median rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Below-median income burden | 2.1% | - | - |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates. Tax-burden differences across rows reflect millage decisions, assessment-ratio practices, and the residential-vs-commercial mix of each tax base.
Cape Girardeau County is QUIET · LIGHT on ACS medians, still verify your parcel card before quoting the county figure. Estimate appeal savings · Missouri counties.
Cape Girardeau County rate trail · QUIET
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $1,421 +1.2% | 0.64% |
| 2023 | $1,404 +4.2% | 0.67% |
| 2022 | $1,348 +8.3% | 0.69% |
| 2021 | $1,245 +1.1% | 0.75% |
| 2020 | $1,231 | 0.76% |
Each row is a separate ACS 5-year release, and consecutive releases share four of their five survey years. The percentage beside each bill is therefore movement in the published estimate against the previous release, not a single year's tax change. The two releases largely describe the same households. For change over time, compare releases that do not overlap.
Cape Girardeau County: tax-to-income at 2.1%
Counties near Cape Girardeau County's effective rate
On effective rate, Cape Girardeau County sits nearest Bossier Parish (LA), Whitley County (KY), McLean County (KY).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Hettinger County (ND), Hutchinson County (TX), Harlan County (KY).
How peers are chosen
These are the nearest cross-state matches in the published Census data, not neighboring counties or recommendations. Peers are rebuilt with each data release; see the calculation method.
Similar effective rates
Similar published median-tax changes, 2020–2024
Cape Girardeau County: only 4% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 1,630 of 36,380 returns from Cape Girardeau County reported real estate taxes, averaging $3,074 - 40% of those reporters sat in the $200k+ AGI band.
What this IRS county file does not say
Amounts are reported before the SALT cap, not deducted; the share is of filers, not homeowners. Source: IRS SOI county data, tax year 2022.
Other Counties in Missouri
Cape Girardeau County rate FAQs
- What is the average property tax in Cape Girardeau County, Missouri?
- The median annual property tax in Cape Girardeau County is $1,421, an effective rate of 0.64% on a $220,700 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- What is the tax affordability score for Cape Girardeau County?
- Cape Girardeau County, Missouri scores C+ (62/100) on PlainPropertyTax's tax affordability composite across 5 Census ACS dimensions (effective rate, bill size, income share, mortgage gap, and home-value/income). Its strongest scored dimension here is rate relief at B- (0.64%). The score compares published county medians to U.S. percentiles, it is not a personal bill and not advice to buy, sell, appeal, or relocate.
- How does Cape Girardeau County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Cape Girardeau County run well below the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 0.64% versus 0.92% nationally.
- What percentage of income goes to property taxes in Cape Girardeau County?
- Property taxes in Cape Girardeau County run within the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 2.1% of the $68,464 median household income.
- Are property taxes increasing in Cape Girardeau County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Cape Girardeau County climbed 15.4% between the 2020 and 2024 5-year releases, from $1,231 to $1,421, a 4-year span. These are survey estimates covering five years each, so this compares the two releases furthest apart rather than consecutive ones, which overlap and would mostly measure the same households twice.
What to do with Cape Girardeau County's QUIET rate
Cape Girardeau County's $1,421 median bill sits well below the U.S. median - still size a parcel estimate; local millage and exemptions move the real bill. Estimate your bill →
Cape Girardeau County ranks #76 of 115 Missouri counties by effective rate - on the lower-burden half of the state ACS set. Missouri overview →
Nationwide peers by effective rate (then bill)
Rate-first peers for Cape Girardeau County's QUIET effective rate, then a disjoint out-of-state bill set so the two neighborhoods stay distinct.
Similar effective rate
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS effective rate. This county: 0.64%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $1,421/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Cape Girardeau County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Cape Girardeau County (QUIET · LIGHT), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
QUIET LIGHT
Buena Vista city, VA
ABS(median_tax) peer · tied with Cape Girardeau County at $1,421/yr; rate 0.91% vs Cape Girardeau County 0.64%.
Crawford County, GA
ABS(median_tax) peer · tied with Cape Girardeau County at $1,421/yr; rate 0.87% vs Cape Girardeau County 0.64%.
Walsh County, ND
ABS(median_tax) peer · tied with Cape Girardeau County at $1,421/yr; rate 1.07% vs Cape Girardeau County 0.64%.
Garrard County, KY
ABS(median_tax) peer · $1,422/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.69% vs Cape Girardeau County 0.64%.
Missouri county set
State ACS overview for every published Missouri county rate and median bill.
Assessment cycle basics
Cape Girardeau County stamps QUIET · LIGHT - how assessed value and millage become the ACS median bill.
Data vintage and method
Data as of 2024. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates.
Property tax data reflects median amounts paid by homeowners. Effective rates are calculated as median tax divided by median home value.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, county median real-estate taxes · 2024 Cape Girardeau County (QUIET · LIGHT) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.