Cape Girardeau is a city in Cape Girardeau and Scott counties in the U.S. state of Missouri. The population was 39,540 at the 2020 census, making it the 17th-largest city in the state. It is a principal city of the Cape Girardeau–Jackson metropolitan area with 97,517 residents. Cape Girardeau is the economic center of southeastern Missouri and the home of Southeast Missouri State University. It is…