Counties / Missouri / Scott County

Scott County, MO

FIPS 29201 · population 37,933 · outside every metro area

$163k
Zillow home value · 2026-06
The numbers

What this county costs and earns

Everything here joins on the county FIPS code, so each figure comes from the agency that publishes it with no name matching in between.

Zillow home value
$163k
▲ 1.6% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
ACS median gross rent
$873
occupied-unit survey; not current asking rent
Census ACS · surveyed
Gross yield
n/a
gross yield cannot be computed without measured market rent
requires both measured price and measured rent
HUD 2-bed standard
$930
the Section 8 payment standard
HUD Fair Market Rent · direct
Independent price check

Do two methods point the same way?

Zillow estimates a current home value. FHFA tracks repeat mortgage transactions. Their growth rates should be read side by side, not averaged.

Both annual signals move in the same direction
FHFA five-year cumulative+40.7%not annualized · through 2025
0%ZILLOW ZHVI2026-06+1.6%FHFA HPI2025+2.2%
Annual changes use different methods and may use different periods. The comparison checks direction and magnitude; it does not create a blended estimate. Zillow county ZHVI pulled 2026-07-26; FHFA annual county HPI pulled 2026-07-28.
Owner-reported value$154k
Surveyed gross rent$873
Rent burden 30%+43.8%
Median year built1976
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
9.1%vacant
16,861estimated housing units
Occupied tenure28.9% renter
owner 71.1%renter 28.9%
Structure mix78.9% single-family
Single-family 78.9%20+ units 1.2%Mobile home 10.3%Other 9.7%
ACS estimates describe the standing housing stock and occupied tenure. They do not measure current listings, transaction prices or asking rents.

Survey source: Census ACS 5-year — county housing value, tenure and stock · ACS 2024 5-year · pulled 2026-07-30. These values describe different housing universes and are not combined into gross yield.

Annual average covered jobs16,215▲ 0.2% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments1,318annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$994▲ 3.8% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorEducation and health services26.5% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS+0.2%WEEKLY WAGE+3.8%Education and health services26.5%
Annual QCEW counts cover jobs located at reporting establishments. The industry share uses disclosed private covered employment; it is not a resident-employment measure or a forecast.

Workplace source: BLS QCEW — county employment and wages · annual county employment and wages 2025 vs 2024 · pulled 2026-07-31. QCEW counts covered jobs located in the county, not employed residents or the metro score’s CES/LAUS series.

County brief

What the local evidence says

01Decision frame

Scott County offers modest price appreciation but weak enough migration to require tenant-demand verification, not a simple momentum call. Investors able to validate rents and insurance should investigate; those relying on appreciation or quick resale evidence should be cautious. Zillow’s county median home value was $163,070, up 1.56% year over year. Separately, FHFA’s annual repeat-transaction HPI increased 2.19%. The index supports positive direction but is not a home value and cannot be combined with Zillow into one growth rate.

02Housing economics

No median market asking rent is published, so housing economics remain unpriceable and gross yield cannot be computed. HUD’s $930 two-bedroom FMR is a payment standard, not asking rent, and cannot fill that gap. Disclosed carrying-cost inputs are a 0.62% effective property-tax rate and $957 median annual tax. Underwriting must test actual rents against taxes, financing, repairs and insurance rather than treat FMR as revenue.

03Demand & competition

QCEW annual averages show 16,215 covered jobs at county workplaces, up 0.22%, and a $994 average weekly wage, up 3.76%. Education and health services represented 26.52% of total private covered jobs, the largest disclosed private supersector rather than the whole economy. Tax-return households: 955 moved in and 1,014 moved out, a calculated net loss of 59; inbound movers’ average AGI was $1,068 higher than outbound movers’. Investors made 55 of 397 purchases, a 13.85% share—participation, not proof of rental demand.

04Risk & next checks

Earthquake is the dominant hazard, while modeled climate loss equals 0.26% of building value per year; it is an expected loss measure, not a property-specific estimate. Seismic location, construction, insurance premiums, deductibles and coverage are not published, preventing an all-in hazard-cost conclusion. Realtor.com listing-market figures—asking price, active listings, days on market, reductions and pending ratio—are also not published; visible supply, seller concessions, marketing time and current buyer demand therefore cannot be judged. Required next checks are property-level rent comps, lease-up evidence, insurance quotes and listing data.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Scott County

Census-recognized incorporated places and CDPs that intersect this county. The list does not pretend to include every neighborhood or informal community.

Population scale

Largest Census places

ACS 2024 5-year
Cape Girardeau city*40.3KSikeston city*16.3KScott City city*4.4KChaffee city3KOran city1KMiner city*950Benton city826Kelso village603
Bars use total place population, not a county-share estimate. An asterisk marks a place that crosses a county line.
Official directory

17 Census places

Population
  1. 01
    Cape Girardeau cityIncorporated place · spans 2 counties
    40,344
  2. 02
    Sikeston cityIncorporated place · spans 2 counties
    16,320
  3. 03
    Scott City cityIncorporated place · spans 2 counties
    4,371
  4. 04
    Chaffee cityIncorporated place
    3,026
  5. 05
    Oran cityIncorporated place
    1,033
  6. 06
    Miner cityIncorporated place · spans 2 counties
    950
  7. 07
    Benton cityIncorporated place
    826
  8. 08
    Kelso villageIncorporated place
    603
  9. 09
    Morley cityIncorporated place
    540
  10. 10
    New Hamburg CDPCensus-designated place
    247
  11. 11
    Vanduser villageIncorporated place
    198
  12. 12
    Blodgett cityIncorporated place
    196
Show 5 more places
  1. 13
    Haywood City villageIncorporated place
    180
  2. 14
    Diehlstadt villageIncorporated place
    113
  3. 15
    Perkins CDPCensus-designated place
    106
  4. 16
    Commerce villageIncorporated place
    64
  5. 17
    Lambert villageIncorporated place
    0

Population is the total place-wide ACS estimate, not an allocated county share. A place crossing a county line is labelled explicitly. Source: Census ACS 5-year — cities and communities · ACS 2024 5-year · pulled 2026-07-30.

Risk, demand and competition

The three things a price does not tell you

01
Risk & carrying costFEMA NRI + Census ACS
Dominant hazardearthquake

0.262% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax0.62%

$957 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration-59

955 in · 1,014 out

Arriving vs leaving income+$1,068

$44,039 arriving · $42,971 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors13.9%

55 of 397 mortgages

investorother financed
No rent index is published for this county.Zillow’s county rent series does not cover every county, and estimating one from a neighbouring county would be a guess wearing a number’s clothes. Everything above is measured here; no wider market is mapped for it either.
Bear case

What can break the county thesis

  1. Published price gains may not translate into investable returns because market rent, and therefore gross yield, is unavailable.
  2. Earthquake exposure may create location-specific insurance or repair burdens beyond the county-level modeled loss measure.
  3. Negative net migration and reliance on a largest disclosed private supersector may limit demand resilience.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Can gross rental yield be calculated from this record?

No. Market asking rent is not published, and HUD two-bedroom FMR is a payment standard rather than a market-rent estimate.

How much investor purchase participation is reported?

Investors made 55 of 397 purchases, representing a 13.85% share.

What hazard is identified and what loss measure is supplied?

Earthquake is the dominant hazard, and modeled climate loss is 0.26% of building value per year.