Counties in Missouri by population

St. Louis County had the highest population of 115 counties in 2020, at 1 million. Worth County had the lowest, at 1,965. The median was 18,480 and the figure for Missouri was 6.16 million. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest1,003,365St. Louis County
Lowest1,965Worth County
Median18,480115 counties
Missouri6,155,074History

Top 40 counties, 2020

CSVChart (SVG)

St. Louis CountySt. Louis County: 1,003,365 persons1,003,365Jackson CountyJackson County: 717,643 persons717,643St. Charles CountySt. Charles County: 406,407 persons406,407St. Louis citySt. Louis city: 300,302 persons300,302Greene CountyGreene County: 299,328 persons299,328Clay CountyClay County: 254,121 persons254,121Jefferson CountyJefferson County: 226,944 persons226,944Boone CountyBoone County: 184,060 persons184,060Jasper CountyJasper County: 122,885 persons122,885Cass CountyCass County: 108,160 persons108,160Platte CountyPlatte County: 107,187 persons107,187Franklin CountyFranklin County: 104,852 persons104,852Christian CountyChristian County: 89,291 persons89,291Buchanan CountyBuchanan County: 84,471 persons84,471Cape Girardeau CountyCape Girardeau County: 81,811 persons81,811Cole CountyCole County: 76,608 persons76,608St. Francois CountySt. Francois County: 66,433 persons66,433Lincoln CountyLincoln County: 59,842 persons59,842Newton CountyNewton County: 58,702 persons58,702Taney CountyTaney County: 56,053 persons56,053Johnson CountyJohnson County: 54,023 persons54,023Pulaski CountyPulaski County: 54,005 persons54,005Phelps CountyPhelps County: 44,553 persons44,553Callaway CountyCallaway County: 44,339 persons44,339Pettis CountyPettis County: 43,011 persons43,011Camden CountyCamden County: 42,804 persons42,804Butler CountyButler County: 42,064 persons42,064Howell CountyHowell County: 39,800 persons39,800Webster CountyWebster County: 39,012 persons39,012Scott CountyScott County: 38,021 persons38,021Lawrence CountyLawrence County: 37,990 persons37,990Laclede CountyLaclede County: 36,046 persons36,046Warren CountyWarren County: 35,740 persons35,740Barry CountyBarry County: 34,549 persons34,549Lafayette CountyLafayette County: 33,059 persons33,059Polk CountyPolk County: 31,615 persons31,615Stone CountyStone County: 31,212 persons31,212Stoddard CountyStoddard County: 28,656 persons28,656Marion CountyMarion County: 28,480 persons28,480Dunklin CountyDunklin County: 28,216 persons28,216
persons. Source: U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2026-10-08.

Full ranking

RankCounties2020
persons
1St. Louis County1,003,365
2Jackson County717,643
3St. Charles County406,407
4St. Louis city300,302
5Greene County299,328
6Clay County254,121
7Jefferson County226,944
8Boone County184,060
9Jasper County122,885
10Cass County108,160
11Platte County107,187
12Franklin County104,852
13Christian County89,291
14Buchanan County84,471
15Cape Girardeau County81,811
16Cole County76,608
17St. Francois County66,433
18Lincoln County59,842
19Newton County58,702
20Taney County56,053
21Johnson County54,023
22Pulaski County54,005
23Phelps County44,553
24Callaway County44,339
25Pettis County43,011
26Camden County42,804
27Butler County42,064
28Howell County39,800
29Webster County39,012
30Scott County38,021
31Lawrence County37,990
32Laclede County36,046
33Warren County35,740
34Barry County34,549
35Lafayette County33,059
36Polk County31,615
37Stone County31,212
38Stoddard County28,656
39Marion County28,480
40Dunklin County28,216
41Adair County25,276
42Audrain County24,778
43Miller County24,772
44Randolph County24,462
45Texas County24,324
46Washington County23,432
47Saline County23,334
48McDonald County23,281
49Ray County23,136
50Crawford County23,030
51Henry County21,976
52Clinton County21,214
53Nodaway County21,021
54Morgan County20,997
55Vernon County19,659
56Benton County19,431
57Perry County18,971
58Ste. Genevieve County18,480
59Wright County18,209
60Andrew County18,109
61Pike County17,411
62Dallas County17,133
63Cooper County16,643
64New Madrid County16,329
65Bates County16,052
66Pemiscot County15,583
67Moniteau County15,223
68Macon County15,199
69Gasconade County14,763
70Livingston County14,555
71Dent County14,392
72Cedar County14,210
73Osage County13,250
74Madison County12,623
75Mississippi County12,133
76Linn County11,854
77Barton County11,624
78DeKalb County11,605
79Douglas County11,604
80Montgomery County11,293
81Wayne County10,937
82Ripley County10,670
83Bollinger County10,556
84Ralls County10,352
85Howard County10,154
86Lewis County10,042
87Grundy County9,764
88Iron County9,512
89St. Clair County9,350
90Caldwell County8,826
91Monroe County8,692
92Oregon County8,605
93Ozark County8,518
94Carroll County8,466
95Maries County8,455
96Daviess County8,435
97Hickory County8,306
98Harrison County8,158
99Dade County7,585
100Chariton County7,386
101Shannon County7,034
102Clark County6,664
103Gentry County6,129
104Shelby County6,090
105Reynolds County6,077
106Sullivan County5,985
107Atchison County5,307
108Carter County5,201
109Scotland County4,698
110Putnam County4,686
111Holt County4,183
112Schuyler County4,006
113Knox County3,733
114Mercer County3,516
115Worth County1,965

Other periods

About this ranking

Resident population. Spain and the EU: 1 January, with Spanish figures from the official municipal register (PadrĂ³n). United States: Census Bureau population estimates for 1 July. Other countries and the World: World Bank mid-year estimates, which count all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship.

For Denmark, Statistics Denmark counts the registered resident population on 1 January. Greenland and the Faroe Islands are excluded. The annual series selects the first-quarter reference date from FOLK1A. The World Bank series exists for every country, so use it (through compare) to rank countries on one basis.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the counties are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

U.S. Census Bureau. Annual estimates of the resident population for the United States, states and counties, 1 July (Population Estimates Program). https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/. Retrieved 2026-10-08.

Use this data in your AI agent

Invokely serves this figure to AI assistants through MCP and to code through a REST API, with the source and citation attached. Ask your assistant:

Rank Counties in Missouri by population using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"population","level":"province","within":"Missouri","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=population&level=province&within=Missouri&limit=10

Connect Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor in one step. The trial answers 25 calls a day without an account.

Questions

Which county has the highest population?

St. Louis County, with 1 million in 2020, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which county has the lowest population?

Worth County, with 1,965 in 2020.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Census Bureau, Annual estimates of the resident population for the United States, states and counties, 1 July (Population Estimates Program). Retrieved 2026-10-08.

Population: other rankings

Counties in Missouri: more rankings