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PantryPath Research · Child Poverty Atlas

Child Poverty in
Missouri

Missouri's child poverty rate is 14.7% across 115 counties, meaning 197K children under 18 live in households below the federal poverty line. Use the interactive map below to see how poverty varies within the state.

14.7%

Child poverty rate (0–17)

197K

Children in poverty

12.0%

All-ages poverty

$68,484

Median income

Missouri by county

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Toggle between five SAIPE metrics to see how poverty varies within Missouri. Hover a county for its exact rate.

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Lower
Higher

Missouri at a glance

Children in poverty

197K

Ages 0–17

Child poverty rate

14.7%

Ages 0–17

5–17 poverty rate

13.5%

Title I allocator

All-ages poverty

12.0%

Entire population

Concentration

1.22×

Child ÷ all-ages

Median income

$68,484

Inflation-adjusted

County-level hotspots

Five-county rankings across 115 counties in Missouri.

Highest child poverty

Ages 0–17, rate

  1. 1 Pemiscot County 35.9%
  2. 2 Shannon County 33.3%
  3. 3 Wayne County 32.2%
  4. 4 Ozark County 30.9%
  5. 5 Reynolds County 30.2%

Lowest child poverty

Ages 0–17, rate

  1. 1 St. Charles County 5.6%
  2. 2 Platte County 6.3%
  3. 3 Cass County 8.6%
  4. 4 Clay County 8.9%
  5. 5 Christian County 9.1%

Most children in poverty

Absolute count, ages 0–17

  1. 1 St. Louis County 27K
  2. 2 Jackson County 24K
  3. 3 St. Louis city 14K
  4. 4 Greene County 10K
  5. 5 Jefferson County 5K

Every county in Missouri

All 115 counties across the five SAIPE metrics plus median income.

County Children 0–17 Ages 5–17 All ages Concentration Child count Median income
Adair County 16.9% 16.1% 18.2% 0.93× 753 $56,954
Andrew County 9.7% 9.1% 8.4% 1.15× 389 $75,926
Atchison County 14.6% 13.8% 11.3% 1.29× 148 $56,797
Audrain County 19.1% 18.5% 15.1% 1.26× 1,027 $55,957
Barry County 20.2% 19.8% 15.5% 1.30× 1,576 $53,303
Barton County 22.0% 20.4% 15.5% 1.42× 589 $50,185
Bates County 16.4% 15.4% 13.9% 1.18× 601 $56,178
Benton County 24.0% 22.2% 18.1% 1.33× 836 $50,946
Bollinger County 20.7% 21.1% 14.6% 1.42× 466 $53,134
Boone County 12.1% 10.9% 14.4% 0.84× 4,473 $70,153
Buchanan County 19.0% 17.3% 15.1% 1.26× 3,392 $60,575
Butler County 24.6% 23.0% 18.6% 1.32× 2,350 $48,059
Caldwell County 15.0% 14.2% 11.5% 1.30× 310 $62,916
Callaway County 15.6% 15.0% 13.0% 1.20× 1,380 $64,214
Camden County 17.0% 16.4% 10.9% 1.56× 1,201 $63,903
Cape Girardeau County 13.6% 12.5% 12.6% 1.08× 2,339 $67,445
Carroll County 17.4% 15.9% 12.9% 1.35× 314 $56,690
Carter County 30.0% 31.1% 19.4% 1.55× 376 $43,801
Cass County 8.6% 8.1% 7.0% 1.23× 2,176 $85,283
Cedar County 21.3% 20.9% 15.0% 1.42× 741 $48,789
Chariton County 13.2% 13.4% 10.4% 1.27× 223 $56,070
Christian County 9.1% 8.3% 7.4% 1.23× 2,105 $79,714
Clark County 20.7% 20.3% 14.5% 1.43× 312 $56,191
Clay County 8.9% 7.5% 7.8% 1.14× 5,276 $84,816
Clinton County 10.9% 9.9% 9.7% 1.12× 523 $76,875
Cole County 11.3% 10.2% 9.4% 1.20× 1,873 $74,002
Cooper County 13.3% 12.8% 10.2% 1.30× 492 $70,769
Crawford County 21.1% 19.6% 14.7% 1.44× 1,030 $55,253
Dade County 20.7% 19.2% 14.2% 1.46× 319 $53,959
Dallas County 22.1% 20.1% 15.9% 1.39× 915 $63,112
Daviess County 18.0% 17.3% 12.8% 1.41× 372 $59,385
DeKalb County 12.4% 11.1% 11.6% 1.07× 262 $63,946
Dent County 22.9% 21.5% 17.5% 1.31× 737 $49,324
Douglas County 24.0% 22.7% 16.3% 1.47× 677 $43,336
Dunklin County 29.1% 26.1% 23.0% 1.27× 1,988 $45,570
Franklin County 10.6% 9.8% 9.8% 1.08× 2,435 $70,389
Gasconade County 13.7% 12.9% 10.5% 1.30× 401 $62,203
Gentry County 19.6% 18.4% 14.5% 1.35× 318 $54,610
Greene County 16.0% 14.2% 14.1% 1.13× 9,814 $59,740
Grundy County 21.4% 22.3% 16.0% 1.34× 519 $48,491
Harrison County 20.5% 18.8% 16.2% 1.27× 403 $50,489
Henry County 22.4% 22.5% 16.3% 1.37× 1,100 $55,216
Hickory County 28.2% 27.7% 17.5% 1.61× 426 $48,213
Holt County 14.8% 14.4% 12.2% 1.21× 132 $61,260
Howard County 14.4% 13.3% 12.0% 1.20× 301 $57,674
Howell County 20.3% 19.1% 16.7% 1.22× 1,943 $48,727
Iron County 25.6% 24.8% 19.0% 1.35× 506 $48,241
Jackson County 14.7% 13.6% 12.0% 1.22× 23,666 $66,102
Jasper County 18.1% 16.6% 15.5% 1.17× 5,382 $55,152
Jefferson County 10.9% 10.0% 9.2% 1.18× 5,480 $81,517
Johnson County 13.2% 12.5% 13.6% 0.97× 1,586 $68,326
Knox County 26.1% 25.5% 16.6% 1.57× 221 $50,083
Laclede County 20.0% 17.7% 17.0% 1.18× 1,766 $52,211
Lafayette County 13.8% 12.4% 11.2% 1.23× 1,022 $67,178
Lawrence County 20.1% 18.1% 14.9% 1.35× 1,949 $58,128
Lewis County 18.7% 17.4% 15.3% 1.22× 375 $57,912
Lincoln County 10.0% 9.7% 8.4% 1.19× 1,580 $79,954
Linn County 20.5% 19.6% 15.3% 1.34× 556 $53,836
Livingston County 18.0% 16.4% 13.9% 1.29× 560 $59,389
Macon County 16.6% 15.2% 12.5% 1.33× 569 $58,887
Madison County 20.7% 19.0% 16.0% 1.29× 559 $52,339
Maries County 16.0% 15.5% 11.8% 1.36× 270 $58,983
Marion County 14.9% 13.9% 12.4% 1.20× 952 $60,780
McDonald County 23.7% 22.9% 18.2% 1.30× 1,388 $54,452
Mercer County 19.0% 18.3% 12.8% 1.48× 160 $55,282
Miller County 17.6% 16.3% 14.4% 1.22× 1,039 $55,031
Mississippi County 28.1% 26.6% 20.5% 1.37× 731 $48,342
Moniteau County 14.0% 13.5% 10.2% 1.37× 530 $63,971
Monroe County 15.3% 14.9% 12.3% 1.24× 287 $54,624
Montgomery County 19.5% 17.7% 14.7% 1.33× 470 $57,686
Morgan County 20.4% 19.3% 14.9% 1.37× 1,005 $52,072
New Madrid County 26.0% 24.6% 19.9% 1.31× 925 $53,843
Newton County 16.6% 15.2% 13.0% 1.28× 2,353 $63,292
Nodaway County 13.0% 12.7% 15.1% 0.86× 446 $55,749
Oregon County 27.6% 26.1% 18.9% 1.46× 553 $41,462
Osage County 11.6% 11.1% 10.5% 1.10× 351 $73,660
Ozark County 30.9% 28.7% 20.2% 1.53× 517 $45,234
Pemiscot County 35.9% 30.0% 27.4% 1.31× 1,344 $42,080
Perry County 13.0% 12.4% 10.0% 1.30× 530 $64,302
Pettis County 16.2% 16.1% 14.0% 1.16× 1,708 $55,021
Phelps County 17.0% 14.9% 15.8% 1.08× 1,575 $53,151
Pike County 18.7% 18.2% 14.6% 1.28× 738 $59,147
Platte County 6.3% 5.8% 6.1% 1.03× 1,596 $96,353
Polk County 18.1% 18.2% 14.6% 1.24× 1,328 $56,628
Pulaski County 11.9% 11.7% 11.4% 1.04× 1,363 $71,856
Putnam County 20.8% 20.0% 15.3% 1.36× 221 $51,967
Ralls County 14.9% 11.5% 10.0% 1.49× 314 $68,550
Randolph County 18.3% 17.1% 13.8% 1.33× 960 $59,692
Ray County 12.8% 11.9% 9.9% 1.29× 664 $70,993
Reynolds County 30.2% 29.1% 19.8% 1.53× 319 $43,674
Ripley County 27.7% 27.7% 20.5% 1.35× 719 $43,485
Saline County 21.6% 21.6% 17.6% 1.23× 1,032 $53,943
Schuyler County 23.3% 22.8% 14.5% 1.61× 248 $52,078
Scotland County 16.0% 15.5% 13.1% 1.22× 214 $57,063
Scott County 21.9% 21.2% 15.1% 1.45× 1,948 $60,088
Shannon County 33.3% 33.4% 22.9% 1.45× 536 $44,439
Shelby County 19.1% 17.8% 15.3% 1.25× 256 $56,121
St. Charles County 5.6% 5.0% 5.5% 1.02× 5,122 $98,765
St. Clair County 27.8% 26.6% 18.2% 1.53× 560 $50,578
St. Francois County 15.9% 14.9% 15.3% 1.04× 2,149 $55,578
St. Louis city 27.1% 25.0% 20.1% 1.35× 13,506 $55,231
St. Louis County 12.6% 11.3% 9.7% 1.30× 26,595 $81,631
Ste. Genevieve County 12.1% 11.3% 9.6% 1.26× 469 $71,557
Stoddard County 17.9% 17.5% 13.7% 1.31× 1,082 $51,741
Stone County 20.1% 19.2% 12.3% 1.63× 1,073 $62,394
Sullivan County 18.7% 18.2% 12.9% 1.45× 235 $51,492
Taney County 18.5% 17.3% 13.6% 1.36× 2,117 $54,514
Texas County 25.7% 24.2% 20.3% 1.27× 1,392 $47,273
Vernon County 21.3% 19.9% 16.9% 1.26× 969 $53,602
Warren County 10.9% 9.9% 8.6% 1.27× 915 $77,075
Washington County 25.4% 22.5% 19.7% 1.29× 1,323 $49,510
Wayne County 32.2% 30.7% 22.4% 1.44× 690 $41,315
Webster County 19.7% 19.4% 12.9% 1.53× 2,225 $69,841
Worth County 20.8% 20.1% 13.4% 1.55× 76 $50,765
Wright County 24.9% 23.7% 17.5% 1.42× 1,241 $47,612

Help for families in Missouri

Free meals, WIC, SNAP, and nutrition help for children in low-income households.

Families & children guide

Missouri SNAP benefits

State-by-state SNAP eligibility, apply online, benefit amounts, and coverage gaps.

Missouri SNAP guide

Find a food pantry

Search Missouri's verified pantries — by ZIP, city, or county.

Missouri food pantries