Counties in Missouri by population

St. Louis County had the highest population of 115 counties in 2023, at 989,977. Worth County had the lowest, at 1,919. The median was 18,938 and the figure for Missouri was 6.21 million. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest989,977St. Louis County
Lowest1,919Worth County
Median18,938115 counties
Missouri6,205,956History

Top 40 counties, 2023

CSVChart (SVG)

St. Louis CountySt. Louis County: 989,977 persons989,977Jackson CountyJackson County: 721,035 persons721,035St. Charles CountySt. Charles County: 417,442 persons417,442Greene CountyGreene County: 304,786 persons304,786St. Louis citySt. Louis city: 283,190 persons283,190Clay CountyClay County: 259,937 persons259,937Jefferson CountyJefferson County: 231,207 persons231,207Boone CountyBoone County: 189,530 persons189,530Jasper CountyJasper County: 125,127 persons125,127Platte CountyPlatte County: 111,908 persons111,908Cass CountyCass County: 111,737 persons111,737Franklin CountyFranklin County: 106,440 persons106,440Christian CountyChristian County: 94,498 persons94,498Buchanan CountyBuchanan County: 83,251 persons83,251Cape Girardeau CountyCape Girardeau County: 82,969 persons82,969Cole CountyCole County: 77,295 persons77,295St. Francois CountySt. Francois County: 67,027 persons67,027Lincoln CountyLincoln County: 64,641 persons64,641Newton CountyNewton County: 60,733 persons60,733Taney CountyTaney County: 56,830 persons56,830Johnson CountyJohnson County: 55,051 persons55,051Pulaski CountyPulaski County: 53,754 persons53,754Phelps CountyPhelps County: 45,285 persons45,285Callaway CountyCallaway County: 44,789 persons44,789Camden CountyCamden County: 44,119 persons44,119Pettis CountyPettis County: 43,611 persons43,611Butler CountyButler County: 41,925 persons41,925Webster CountyWebster County: 41,476 persons41,476Howell CountyHowell County: 40,725 persons40,725Lawrence CountyLawrence County: 38,902 persons38,902Scott CountyScott County: 37,885 persons37,885Warren CountyWarren County: 37,842 persons37,842Laclede CountyLaclede County: 36,647 persons36,647Barry CountyBarry County: 35,373 persons35,373Lafayette CountyLafayette County: 33,216 persons33,216Polk CountyPolk County: 32,921 persons32,921Stone CountyStone County: 32,664 persons32,664Stoddard CountyStoddard County: 28,344 persons28,344Marion CountyMarion County: 28,270 persons28,270Dunklin CountyDunklin County: 27,082 persons27,082
persons. Source: U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2026-10-08.

Full ranking

RankCounties2023
persons
Change on 2022
1St. Louis County989,977-0.2%
2Jackson County721,035+0.6%
3St. Charles County417,442+0.8%
4Greene County304,786+0.5%
5St. Louis city283,190-1.2%
6Clay County259,937+1.1%
7Jefferson County231,207+0.8%
8Boone County189,530+1.1%
9Jasper County125,127+0.9%
10Platte County111,908+1.2%
11Cass County111,737+1.2%
12Franklin County106,440+0.6%
13Christian County94,498+1.4%
14Buchanan County83,251+0.3%
15Cape Girardeau County82,969+0.1%
16Cole County77,295+0.4%
17St. Francois County67,027+0.2%
18Lincoln County64,641+2.4%
19Newton County60,733+1.1%
20Taney County56,830+0.1%
21Johnson County55,051+1.2%
22Pulaski County53,754-0.1%
23Phelps County45,285+0.2%
24Callaway County44,789+0.1%
25Camden County44,119+0.7%
26Pettis County43,611+0.5%
27Butler County41,925-0.5%
28Webster County41,476+2.7%
29Howell County40,725+0.3%
30Lawrence County38,902+0.6%
31Scott County37,885+0.1%
32Warren County37,842+1.4%
33Laclede County36,647+0.9%
34Barry County35,373+1.2%
35Lafayette County33,216+0.8%
36Polk County32,921+0.8%
37Stone County32,664+1.6%
38Stoddard County28,344-0.1%
39Marion County28,270-0.7%
40Dunklin County27,082-1.4%
41Texas County25,613+1.3%
42Miller County25,560+0.7%
43Adair County25,168+0.2%
44Audrain County24,412-0.2%
45Randolph County24,120-2%
46McDonald County23,985+1.6%
47Washington County23,568+0.8%
48Ray County23,183+0.3%
49Saline County23,156+0.7%
50Crawford County22,729+0.5%
51Henry County22,448+0.3%
52Morgan County21,954+0.9%
53Clinton County21,530+0.9%
54Nodaway County20,709-0.1%
55Benton County20,568+1.6%
56Vernon County19,747+0.8%
57Wright County19,401+1.6%
58Perry County18,938+0.3%
59Ste. Genevieve County18,662+0.3%
60Andrew County18,137+0.6%
61Pike County17,904+1.5%
62Dallas County17,765+0.9%
63Cooper County16,943+1.3%
64Bates County16,259+0.7%
65New Madrid County15,415-1.8%
66Moniteau County15,248+0.1%
67Macon County15,189+0.7%
68Gasconade County14,731-0.5%
69Cedar County14,674+0.5%
70Pemiscot County14,661-1.4%
71Dent County14,647+1.2%
72Livingston County14,608+0.8%
73Osage County13,462+0.5%
74Madison County12,727-0.2%
75Douglas County12,240+2.3%
76Mississippi County11,842+1.2%
77Linn County11,791-0.4%
78Barton County11,756+0.5%
79Montgomery County11,464-0.1%
80Wayne County10,832+0.2%
81Ripley County10,811+1.1%
82Bollinger County10,524+0.2%
83Ralls County10,480+0.6%
84Howard County10,111-0.5%
85DeKalb County9,893-12.4%
86Lewis County9,834-0.6%
87Grundy County9,808-0.2%
88St. Clair County9,750+1.7%
89Iron County9,458+0.5%
90Ozark County8,995+0.2%
91Caldwell County8,962+0.2%
92Hickory County8,796+2.1%
93Monroe County8,719+0.9%
94Oregon County8,708+0.2%
95Daviess County8,545+1%
96Maries County8,452+0.1%
97Carroll County8,363-0.5%
98Harrison County8,225+0.2%
99Dade County7,723+0.5%
100Chariton County7,401+0.2%
101Shannon County7,252+0.5%
102Clark County6,642-1.3%
103Gentry County6,303+0.3%
104Reynolds County5,966-0.4%
105Shelby County5,942-0.9%
106Sullivan County5,856+0.3%
107Carter County5,328+1.2%
108Atchison County5,133-0.7%
109Scotland County4,686+0.9%
110Putnam County4,648-0.1%
111Holt County4,264+0.2%
112Schuyler County4,060+1.2%
113Knox County3,722-1.2%
114Mercer County3,490+0.5%
115Worth County1,919-1.1%

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 989,977 in 2023, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which county has the lowest population?

Worth County, with 1,919 in 2023.

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