Cape Girardeau, MO-IL

Across all occupations in the Cape Girardeau, MO-IL metropolitan area, the median wage is $44,470 a year ($21.38 an hour) and the mean $56,640, May 2025. That median is −13% against the US median of $50,980 and −7% against Missouri's $47,800. BLS counts 44,680 jobs in the area, which spans Missouri and Illinois. The highest-paying occupation is pharmacists; the largest is home health and personal care aides.

All occupations: Cape Girardeau, MO-IL vs Missouri and Illinois and the United States

All occupations: wage percentiles, mean and employment in the Cape Girardeau, MO-IL area, Missouri and Illinois and nationally, May 2025
Area	Basis	Percentile wage					Mean	Employment
Area	Basis	10th	25th	Median	75th	90th	Mean	Employment
Cape Girardeau, MO-IL	Hourly	$13.79	$16.25	$21.38	$30.76	$45.04	$27.23	44,680
Cape Girardeau, MO-IL	Annual	$28,680	$33,800	$44,470	$63,980	$93,690	$56,640	44,680
Missouri	Hourly	$14.32	$17.39	$22.98	$35.70	$50.15	$29.89	2,936,050
Missouri	Annual	$29,780	$36,160	$47,800	$74,260	$104,320	$62,160	2,936,050
Illinois	Hourly	$15.82	$18.25	$24.98	$39.93	$61.43	$34.20	6,098,130
Illinois	Annual	$32,900	$37,960	$51,960	$83,060	$127,770	$71,130	6,098,130
United States	Hourly	$15.00	$18.07	$24.51	$38.71	$61.81	$33.54	155,495,730
United States	Annual	$31,200	$37,590	$50,980	$80,520	$128,560	$69,770	155,495,730

Annual wage at the 10th, 25th, 50th (median), 75th and 90th percentiles across all occupations in the metro; the line marks the US median. The same numbers are in the table above.

203 detailed occupations publish a median in this area. State profiles: Missouri, Illinois. Compare any occupation across every area in the wage explorer.

20 highest-paying occupations in Cape Girardeau, MO-IL

Rank	Occupation	Median annual	Median hourly	Employment
1	Pharmacists	$141,250	$67.91	100
2	Physician Assistants	$141,080	$67.83	40
3	Financial Managers in Missouri	$139,690	$67.16	120
4	Industrial Production Managers	$133,110	$63.99	70
5	Nurse Practitioners	$130,000	$62.50	200
6	Human Resources Managers	$128,240	$61.66	30
7	Computer and Information Systems Managers in Missouri	$128,230	$61.65	80
8	Medical and Health Services Managers	$104,010	$50.00	280
9	Construction Managers	$102,980	$49.51	70
10	Physical Therapists	$100,420	$48.28	100
11	Veterinarians	$100,360	$48.25	30
12	Software Developers in Missouri	$100,220	$48.18	90
13	Electrical Power-Line Installers and Repairers	$99,650	$47.91	50
14	Occupational Therapists	$98,990	$47.59	70
15	Sales Managers in Missouri	$98,810	$47.50	100
16	Industrial Engineers	$98,650	$47.43	60
17	Managers, All Other in Missouri	$98,220	$47.22	90
18	Speech-Language Pathologists	$97,900	$47.07	80
19	Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary	$96,860	*	100
20	Transportation, Storage, and Distribution Managers	$96,320	$46.31	50

Ranked by median; an occupation whose median BLS withholds or top-codes in this area cannot appear here, however well it pays.

20 largest occupations in Cape Girardeau, MO-IL

Rank	Occupation	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient	Median annual
1	Home Health and Personal Care Aides in Missouri	1,540	34.43	1.24	$33,940
2	Registered Nurses in Missouri	1,470	32.96	1.52	$82,640
3	Retail Salespersons in Missouri	1,460	32.67	1.30	$30,250
4	General and Operations Managers in Missouri	1,450	32.50	1.44	$74,790
5	Cashiers in Missouri	1,270	28.44	1.43	$29,350
6	Cooks, Fast Food in Missouri	1,070	23.89	5.79	$28,820
7	Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education in Missouri	1,030	23.00	2.58	$47,100
8	Stockers and Order Fillers in Missouri	930	20.85	1.14	$35,040
9	Office Clerks, General in Missouri	850	18.93	1.19	$38,830
10	Waiters and Waitresses in Missouri	820	18.38	1.26	$28,710
11	Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers in Missouri	730	16.39	1.24	$50,200
12	Nursing Assistants in Missouri	680	15.19	1.63	$36,650
13	Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary in Missouri	600	13.49	1.48	$29,070
13	Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand in Missouri	600	13.36	0.70	$36,430
15	Customer Service Representatives in Missouri	580	13.01	0.78	$38,190
16	Fast Food and Counter Workers in Missouri	520	11.74	0.47	$29,810
17	Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners in Missouri	510	11.42	0.80	$35,130
18	Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive in Missouri	500	11.17	1.02	$37,480
19	Maintenance and Repair Workers, General in Missouri	490	11.03	1.12	$48,830
20	Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses in Missouri	410	9.20	2.21	$60,100

Most concentrated occupations in Cape Girardeau, MO-IL

The 10 occupations with the highest location quotient among those employing at least 100 people in the area. A quotient of 2.00 means the occupation's share of local jobs is twice its national share.

Rank	Occupation	Location quotient	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Median annual
1	Cooks, Fast Food in Missouri	5.79	1,070	23.89	$28,820
2	Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education in Missouri	2.58	1,030	23.00	$47,100
3	Child, Family, and School Social Workers	2.24	250	5.67	$46,430
4	Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses in Missouri	2.21	410	9.20	$60,100
5	Nurse Practitioners	2.20	200	4.57	$130,000
6	Food Servers, Nonrestaurant	2.10	180	3.97	$30,090
7	Health Technologists and Technicians, All Other	2.04	110	2.39	$40,320
8	Healthcare Social Workers	2.02	110	2.44	$49,490
9	Tellers	1.99	190	4.21	$36,490
10	Clinical Laboratory Technologists and Technicians	1.98	190	4.23	$51,900

Occupation groups in Cape Girardeau, MO-IL

Group	Median annual	Mean annual	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient
Management	$86,740	$103,470	2,890	64.66	0.90
Architecture and Engineering	$85,730	$88,440	360	8.14	0.48
Computer and Mathematical	$77,820	$82,630	590	13.31	0.39
Healthcare Practitioners and Technical	$75,440	$97,840	4,330	97.00	1.54
Life, Physical, and Social Science	$71,930	$87,900	160	3.50	0.37
Legal	$67,020	$87,590	220	4.92	0.59
Business and Financial Operations	$62,940	$71,170	1,760	39.34	0.58
Construction and Extraction	$60,340	$64,880	1,600	35.74	0.86
Production	$54,240	$53,560	3,070	68.64	1.25
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair	$52,280	$57,790	1,910	42.70	1.09
Community and Social Service	$48,870	$52,770	1,090	24.37	1.42
Educational Instruction and Library	$47,100	$52,690	3,220	71.99	1.23
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media	$46,370	$56,950	460	10.35	0.79
Protective Service	$46,310	$50,470	640	14.31	0.59
Office and Administrative Support	$39,440	$44,290	5,010	112.20	0.98
Transportation and Material Moving	$38,990	$46,300	3,500	78.33	0.89
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry	$36,960	$41,360	100	2.15	0.77
Healthcare Support	$35,830	$37,050	3,110	69.53	1.37
Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance	$34,690	$36,410	1,070	24.00	0.82
Sales and Related	$33,120	$42,280	4,140	92.62	1.07
Personal Care and Service	$31,240	$37,970	960	21.38	1.02
Food Preparation and Serving Related	$29,450	$33,570	4,500	100.81	1.15

Every occupation in Missouri and Illinois, and the area's place among the state's metros, is on the state profiles. All 203 published occupations for this area are in the wage explorer; other metros are on the metros hub.

Source and notes

Data: BLS OEWS May 2025, released 2026-05-15. Cross-industry estimates, all ownerships. BLS page: OEWS Cape Girardeau, MO-IL estimates (area 16020).

*: Wage estimate not available.

Annual wages assume 2,080 hours a year at the hourly rate; occupations BLS publishes on one basis only show an en dash (–) on the other.
Employment is rounded to the nearest 10 by BLS. Where BLS withholds a cell, nothing is estimated in its place.
Jobs per 1,000 is the occupation's employment per 1,000 jobs in the Cape Girardeau, MO-IL area; the location quotient is that share divided by the national share.
The concentration table keeps only occupations with employment of 100 or more in the area, so a quotient built on a handful of rounded jobs cannot top it.
The area spans Missouri and Illinois; its figures are the whole MSA, as BLS publishes them, under the primary state Missouri.