What is the population of Carthage city?

Carthage city has 15,513 residents on Census ACS 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, ranking #58 of 1,082 in Missouri.

What is the median household income in Carthage city?

Median household income in Carthage city is $50,849 a year, 35.3% below the national figure of $78,538.

How much does it cost to rent or buy in Carthage city?

Median gross rent is $897 a month and the median home value is $133,500, so rent absorbs about 21.2% of median household income.

Is Carthage city affordable compared with the rest of the US?

Homes cost about 2.6× the local median income here versus roughly 3.9× nationally, so Carthage city is more affordable to buy in than the typical US market, and rent takes 21.2% of median income against the 30% cost-burden line.

Aerial view of a dense city center, illustrating the US cities ZIP code directory

Missouri · Census place 11656

Carthage, MO population, income and ZIP codes

Quick answer

The population of the city of Carthage, Missouri (Carthage, MO — Census place “Carthage city”) is 15,513 residents, ranking #58 of 1082 places in Missouri. Median household income is $50,849, the median home is worth $133,500 and median gross rent runs $897 a month. Looking for the Carthage Missouri ZIP code list? 1 ZIP codes serve Carthage, MO: 64836.

Population: 15,513Carthage city residents
Median household income: $50,849Past 12 months, inflation adjusted
Median home value: $133,500Owner-occupied units
Median gross rent: $897Rent plus utilities, monthly
Median age: 31 yrsAll residents
Homeownership rate: 51.7%Owner-occupied households

Carthage ZIP codes (Missouri)

Census ZCTAs whose delivery area overlaps Carthage.

The Carthage MO ZIP code list below covers 1 ZIP code. Open any one for its population, income, housing and rent profile.

64836

What the numbers mean in Carthage city

Housing cost measured against local earnings.

A household earning the Carthage city median would spend about 21.2% of gross income on the median rent. The 30% mark is the federal threshold for cost burden, so anything above it signals a stretched rental market. The median home costs 2.6× the median household income; nationally that ratio sits near 4.5×. Poverty affects 33% of residents and 51.7% of households own their home.

Source: US Census Bureau, ACS 2019-2023 5-year estimates · rates as published for 2019-2023 ACS 5-year

Carthage city, MO in context

How this area compares with national benchmarks.

Carthage city is a mid-size town in Missouri, with 15,513 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #58 of 1,082 ranked by population — larger than 94% of them. The median age here is 31 years against 39.1 nationally, a distinctly younger profile, typical of places with students, military posts or a fast-growing family population. Places under 65,000 residents only appear in the five-year release, never the one-year file, so these values pool sixty months of responses and lag the current year by design.

Households in Carthage city earn a median of $50,849 a year, 35.3% below the national figure of $78,538 and 8% below the $55,543 median for the 374 Missouri cities we cover. The median is the midpoint household, not an average, so a handful of very high earners cannot drag it upward the way they distort a mean. Poverty reaches 33% of residents here, well above the 12.4% national rate, which is the single clearest signal in this dataset that median income here is carried by a narrow band of households.

The typical owner-occupied home in Carthage city is valued at $133,500, 56% below the national figure and 12% below the $152,400 peer median, while median gross rent runs $897 a month, 36.2% below the national figure, or roughly $10,764 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 21.2% of gross pay toward that rent against the federal 30% cost-burden threshold, so renting here is within the standard affordability guideline. The home-price-to-income ratio works out to 2.6×, against roughly 3.9× nationally, so buying is easier here than in the average US market. 51.7% of occupied homes are owner-occupied versus 65% nationally, so the market leans more heavily on renters. The rent line includes utilities paid by the tenant, a definition worth remembering when comparing it against a landlord's quoted rate.

No figure on this page is estimated by us; each one comes straight from the published ACS tables for this area. Small-area estimates still carry wider margins of error than state or national figures, so check the linked ACS tables before relying on them for lending, appraisal or legal work.

Compare with nearby places

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Frequently asked questions

Common questions about this area.

What is the population of Carthage city?: Carthage city has 15,513 residents on Census ACS 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, ranking #58 of 1,082 in Missouri.
What is the median household income in Carthage city?: Median household income in Carthage city is $50,849 a year, 35.3% below the national figure of $78,538.
How much does it cost to rent or buy in Carthage city?: Median gross rent is $897 a month and the median home value is $133,500, so rent absorbs about 21.2% of median household income.
Is Carthage city affordable compared with the rest of the US?: Homes cost about 2.6× the local median income here versus roughly 3.9× nationally, so Carthage city is more affordable to buy in than the typical US market, and rent takes 21.2% of median income against the 30% cost-burden line.
How current is this Carthage city data?: All figures come from the US Census Bureau American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year five-year estimates. Places under 65,000 residents only appear in the five-year release, never the one-year file, so these values pool sixty months of responses and lag the current year by design.