Counties in Missouri by population

St. Louis County had the highest population of 115 counties in 2021, at 998,850. Worth County had the lowest, at 1,970. The median was 18,622 and the figure for Missouri was 6.17 million. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest998,850St. Louis County
Lowest1,970Worth County
Median18,622115 counties
Missouri6,172,551History

Top 40 counties, 2021

CSVChart (SVG)

St. Louis CountySt. Louis County: 998,850 persons998,850Jackson CountyJackson County: 718,158 persons718,158St. Charles CountySt. Charles County: 410,568 persons410,568Greene CountyGreene County: 301,133 persons301,133St. Louis citySt. Louis city: 293,553 persons293,553Clay CountyClay County: 255,910 persons255,910Jefferson CountyJefferson County: 228,062 persons228,062Boone CountyBoone County: 186,113 persons186,113Jasper CountyJasper County: 123,314 persons123,314Cass CountyCass County: 109,808 persons109,808Platte CountyPlatte County: 108,767 persons108,767Franklin CountyFranklin County: 105,315 persons105,315Christian CountyChristian County: 91,667 persons91,667Buchanan CountyBuchanan County: 83,641 persons83,641Cape Girardeau CountyCape Girardeau County: 82,136 persons82,136Cole CountyCole County: 76,632 persons76,632St. Francois CountySt. Francois County: 67,014 persons67,014Lincoln CountyLincoln County: 61,642 persons61,642Newton CountyNewton County: 59,449 persons59,449Taney CountyTaney County: 56,352 persons56,352Johnson CountyJohnson County: 54,209 persons54,209Pulaski CountyPulaski County: 53,820 persons53,820Phelps CountyPhelps County: 44,891 persons44,891Callaway CountyCallaway County: 44,644 persons44,644Camden CountyCamden County: 43,529 persons43,529Pettis CountyPettis County: 43,237 persons43,237Butler CountyButler County: 42,167 persons42,167Howell CountyHowell County: 40,028 persons40,028Webster CountyWebster County: 39,608 persons39,608Lawrence CountyLawrence County: 38,274 persons38,274Scott CountyScott County: 37,893 persons37,893Warren CountyWarren County: 36,578 persons36,578Laclede CountyLaclede County: 36,168 persons36,168Barry CountyBarry County: 34,778 persons34,778Lafayette CountyLafayette County: 32,852 persons32,852Polk CountyPolk County: 32,043 persons32,043Stone CountyStone County: 31,603 persons31,603Marion CountyMarion County: 28,556 persons28,556Stoddard CountyStoddard County: 28,531 persons28,531Dunklin CountyDunklin County: 27,752 persons27,752
persons. Source: U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2026-10-08.

Full ranking

RankCounties2021
persons
Change on 2020
1St. Louis County998,850-0.4%
2Jackson County718,158+0.1%
3St. Charles County410,568+1%
4Greene County301,133+0.6%
5St. Louis city293,553-2.2%
6Clay County255,910+0.7%
7Jefferson County228,062+0.5%
8Boone County186,113+1.1%
9Jasper County123,314+0.3%
10Cass County109,808+1.5%
11Platte County108,767+1.5%
12Franklin County105,315+0.4%
13Christian County91,667+2.7%
14Buchanan County83,641-1%
15Cape Girardeau County82,136+0.4%
16Cole County76,6320%
17St. Francois County67,014+0.9%
18Lincoln County61,642+3%
19Newton County59,449+1.3%
20Taney County56,352+0.5%
21Johnson County54,209+0.3%
22Pulaski County53,820-0.3%
23Phelps County44,891+0.8%
24Callaway County44,644+0.7%
25Camden County43,529+1.7%
26Pettis County43,237+0.5%
27Butler County42,167+0.2%
28Howell County40,028+0.6%
29Webster County39,608+1.5%
30Lawrence County38,274+0.7%
31Scott County37,893-0.3%
32Warren County36,578+2.3%
33Laclede County36,168+0.3%
34Barry County34,778+0.7%
35Lafayette County32,852-0.6%
36Polk County32,043+1.4%
37Stone County31,603+1.3%
38Marion County28,556+0.3%
39Stoddard County28,531-0.4%
40Dunklin County27,752-1.6%
41Adair County25,187-0.4%
42Miller County24,945+0.7%
43Texas County24,857+2.2%
44Audrain County24,852+0.3%
45Randolph County24,578+0.5%
46McDonald County23,437+0.7%
47Washington County23,396-0.2%
48Saline County23,281-0.2%
49Ray County23,093-0.2%
50Crawford County22,822-0.9%
51Henry County22,212+1.1%
52Morgan County21,434+2.1%
53Clinton County21,2150%
54Nodaway County21,018-0%
55Benton County19,963+2.7%
56Vernon County19,580-0.4%
57Perry County18,982+0.1%
58Wright County18,622+2.3%
59Ste. Genevieve County18,578+0.5%
60Andrew County18,029-0.4%
61Pike County17,604+1.1%
62Dallas County17,348+1.3%
63Cooper County16,684+0.2%
64Bates County16,094+0.3%
65New Madrid County16,044-1.7%
66Moniteau County15,306+0.5%
67Pemiscot County15,239-2.2%
68Macon County15,185-0.1%
69Gasconade County14,782+0.1%
70Livingston County14,760+1.4%
71Cedar County14,517+2.2%
72Dent County14,461+0.5%
73Osage County13,392+1.1%
74Madison County12,665+0.3%
75Mississippi County12,100-0.3%
76Linn County11,843-0.1%
77Douglas County11,746+1.2%
78DeKalb County11,700+0.8%
79Barton County11,671+0.4%
80Montgomery County11,450+1.4%
81Wayne County10,924-0.1%
82Ripley County10,647-0.2%
83Bollinger County10,581+0.2%
84Ralls County10,363+0.1%
85Howard County10,140-0.1%
86Lewis County10,005-0.4%
87Grundy County9,7650%
88Iron County9,433-0.8%
89St. Clair County9,417+0.7%
90Caldwell County8,911+1%
91Ozark County8,794+3.2%
92Monroe County8,706+0.2%
93Oregon County8,619+0.2%
94Hickory County8,599+3.5%
95Maries County8,426-0.3%
96Daviess County8,407-0.3%
97Carroll County8,399-0.8%
98Harrison County8,179+0.3%
99Dade County7,603+0.2%
100Chariton County7,363-0.3%
101Shannon County7,097+0.9%
102Clark County6,746+1.2%
103Gentry County6,183+0.9%
104Reynolds County6,084+0.1%
105Shelby County5,969-2%
106Sullivan County5,903-1.4%
107Carter County5,320+2.3%
108Atchison County5,215-1.7%
109Putnam County4,695+0.2%
110Scotland County4,667-0.7%
111Holt County4,226+1%
112Schuyler County4,017+0.3%
113Knox County3,779+1.2%
114Mercer County3,482-1%
115Worth County1,970+0.3%

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.

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Questions

Which county has the highest population?

St. Louis County, with 998,850 in 2021, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which county has the lowest population?

Worth County, with 1,970 in 2021.

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