Population and Change. Over the period from 2000 to 2006, Jasper County's population increased by 7,819, going from 104,686 to 112,505 in 2006. This was a change of 7.5 percent, as compared with Missouri (4.4%).
Components of Change. Natural Increase is defined as births minus deaths. Jasper County had 3,899 more births than deaths between 2000 and 2006. Net migration is the difference between the number of people who moved into an area and the number of people who moved out. So a negative net migration means a net loss of persons due to migration, while a positive value represents a net gain. Between 2000 and 2006, Jasper County had a net migration of 3,920.
Age. In 2006, Jasper County reported 13.4 percent of its residents were 65 and older compared to 13.3 percent statewide. At the same time, the proportion of young people under 18 in the county was 25.6 percent. Missouri reported 24.1 percent during the same period.
Racial Diversity. The 2006 vintage estimates from the Census Bureau indicate that 94.1 percent of the population in the county was White (105,876 persons), while the estimated black population was 1,856 (1.6%). The same set of estimates indicated there were 1,076 Asians (1.0%) and 1,401 American Indians (1.2%). Hispanic is not considered to be a race by the Census Bureau, but rather a separate category. In 2006 there were an estimated 6,056 hispanic persons (5.4%) living in the county.
Place of Residence. Estimates for 2006 also show 65.4 percent of the population lived in places of 2,500 or more in Jasper County. Those living in smaller places account for 11.0 percent of the county's population and 23.6 percent lived in unincorporated areas.
Housing. According to the Census Bureau's estimates, there were 48,858 housing units in Jasper County in 2006. The homeownership rate in 2000 was 67.0 percent compared to 70.3 percent statewide. The median value of owner-occupied housing units in 2000 was $67,700 compared with a statewide median value of $89,900.
Households and Families. There were about 41,471 households in the county according to the 2000 decennial census. Families comprised 67.8 percent of households (28,097). About 23.2 percent of households were married couples with children under 18, which was less than for the state overall (23.3 percent). Single parent families in Jasper County (9.6%) were more than Missouri (9.1%).
Families and Children. Median family income for Jasper County was $37,611 in 2005 compared to $46,044 for Missouri.
The 2005 poverty rate in Jasper County was 16.7 percent which was higher than that of the state (13.6%). The poverty rate among children (23.8%) was higher than that of the state (19.5%).
The annual Kids Count reports Jasper County indicators on children were ranked 97 out of 114 counties and St. Louis City in the state in 2006. Kids Count indicators show that low birth weight infants decreased to 6.8 percent and births to teenage mothers were 68.2 per 1,000 girls. The area also reported child abuse cases at a rate of 47.6 per 1,000 for 2006 compared to 32.7 per 1,000 statewide.
Jobs by Sector. The October 2007 unemployment rate was 4.7 percent compared with 5.2 percent statewide. There were 75,581 jobs in Jasper County in 2006. Manufacturing accounts for more than 16.1 percent of the total jobs (12,185). Retail Trade (10,531), Health care and social assistance (7,750) and Transportation and warehousing (5,966) are the next highest categories.
Agriculture. The 2002 Census of Agriculture reported 1390 farms in the county with total sales of about $66.326 million and production expenses of $61.991 million. There was $4.335 million in net farm income reported in the county with 6.5 percent of all farms having sales of $100,000 or more and 64.7 percent of farms with less than $10,000 in sales.
County Income Patterns. Jasper County generated over $2,824.906 million of total personal income in 2005. Per capita income was $25,557 compared with $31,231 for Missouri. Significant sources of income were:
Commuting. In Jasper County, 17.3 percent of workers commute outside their home county to work in 2000. Statewide, 33.4 percent of workers traveled between 30 and 60 minutes to work, while in Jasper County 13.0 percent traveled as long. At the same time, 2.8 percent of workers traveled more than 60 minutes to work compared with 5.4 percent statewide.
Educational Attainment. In Jasper County, about 16.5 percent of residents aged 25 years and over (10,912) were college graduates in 2000 compared with 21.6 percent statewide. An additional 18,279 residents 25 and over in Jasper County had some college education (27.6%) compared with 27.0 percent of all Missourians of that age.
The high school graduation rate in Jasper County (78.6%) in 2006 as reported by the Missouri Dept. of Education and Secondary Education was less than the state (85.8%).
Disabilities. There were 7,976 persons age 65 and older in the county who reported having a disability in 2000 (57.9%). The corresponding Missouri rate is 55.3 percent. Among the working age population (aged 16 to 64) in Jasper County 7,583 reported some work disability, a rate of 11.5 percent compared to a state rate of 10.8 percent.
Health Status Indicators. In 2003, over 21 percent of Jasper County residents report their health was “fair or poor” compared with 16.9 percent statewide. While . percent of Missourians reported having no health coverage, the percent without coverage in Jasper County was estimated to be 17.7 percent. State health data report the top two prevalence indicators for the county were Current Smoker(31.6%) and High Blood Pressure(29%). Missouri reported 26.5 percent and 28.5 percent in those same categories.
Age-adjusted Mortality. The top age-adjusted mortality rates (per 100,000) for Jasper County are Heart Disease (339) and Chronic Lower Respiratory Disease (59.1). Missouri's rates were 298 and at 46.0 respectively.
Note(s):