Moving from St. Louis to Cape Girardeau
St. Louis to Cape Girardeau: $171 less leftover
$2,491/mo leftover in Cape Girardeau vs $2,662 in St. Louis after tax and rent ($171 less). −$2,052 a year — not a moving-company quote.
St. Louis leftover
$2,662
a month after tax and rent
Cape Girardeau leftover
$2,491
−$171 vs St. Louis
Home
Only when you tap. We match the nearest metro and don't keep the coordinates.
Destination
Leftover is not a cost-of-living index. Leftover vs a COL index
Who already made this move
In 2022-2023, 204 households moved St. Louis → Cape Girardeau (about 312 people, average AGI $55,583). 274 households went the other way.
Source: IRS SOI county-to-county migration. Not a moving company; not a recommendation.
| Per month | St. Louis | Cape Girardeau |
|---|---|---|
| Take-home | $5,679 | $5,026 |
| Rent | $1,138 | $721 |
| All other costs | $1,879 | $1,814 |
| Left over | $2,662 | $2,491 |
Leftover is take-home after federal, state and city wage tax, minus asking rent at the bedroom count you set, minus a modelled month of groceries, utilities, healthcare, transport and childcare. It is not a cost-of-living index and not a moving quote. The dollar gap between St. Louis and Cape Girardeau moves when you change the job, remote versus local pay, or bedrooms. How the math works · Leftover vs a COL index · Why a cheaper COL% can still lose leftover.
Full line-by-line comparison →
What the move itself costs
About 123 road miles, 1 bedroom. Typical ranges, not quotes.
- Full-service mover
- $1,650–$3,100
- Container or pod
- $1,100–$2,100
- Rent a truck
- $400–$750
Other moves from St. Louis
Dig into Cape Girardeau
Paycheck
Take-home pay after tax and rent, and what's left at the end of the month.
Who moved
Which metros people actually left and arrived from, according to IRS tax returns.
Rent vs buy
Asking rent, the median home, property tax, and months to a down payment.
Monthly costs
Groceries, getting around, utilities, healthcare and childcare at your household size.
Daily life
Homicide and firearm death rates, heat, cars and commute.
Kids
Public-school enrollment, pupil–teacher ratio, bedrooms and childcare.
Getting there
Typical cost to get here, then leftover after tax and rent — not a moving-company directory.
Questions
Is the cost of living lower in Cape Girardeau than St. Louis?
A one-bedroom is about $1,138 in St. Louis versus $721 in Cape Girardeau. On a one-adult, one-bedroom household, leftover is about $171 a month lower in Cape Girardeau. Change the job or household on the comparison to see your number.
Does Cape Girardeau have state income tax?
Cape Girardeau is in Missouri, which taxes wage income.
Did people actually move from St. Louis to Cape Girardeau?
When IRS county-to-county data covers this pair, the page lists how many households made the St. Louis → Cape Girardeau move and their average AGI. Leftover after tax and rent is shown for the same household on both sides.