Best PlacesBallwin, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Ballwin, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Ballwin ranks 359th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and walkability ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Ballwin
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
Ballwin's strengths and weaknesses
Where Ballwin ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 98% of cities
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 96% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than 95% of cities
- Educational attainmentBetter than 92% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than 86% of cities
Where Ballwin ranks low
- WalkabilityBetter than only 18% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than only 19% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 70 pleasant days a year, better than only 26% of cities
- QuietBetter than only 28% of cities
- BikingBetter than only 28% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Ballwin
A household needs to earn about $103,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ballwin home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $129,194, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Ballwin's effective rate of 1.15%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Ballwin
Ballwin runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Ballwin.
Who works in Ballwin, and how
Work in Ballwin centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 21%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Ballwin
Ballwin has more parkland per resident than 81% of cities. That concentrates in some parts of Ballwin and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Ballwin, month by month
Ballwin sees roughly 70 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 42, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42° | 32° | 24° |
| April | 70° | 57° | 45° |
| July | 90° | 79° | 69° |
| October | 71° | 58° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Ballwin
St Louis Lambert International sits about 14 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 7.5 million passengers in 2025, with 114 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Ballwin
Schools across Ballwin average a B+, better than 77% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Kehrs Mill Elem.A+ · 74% proficient
- Pierremont Elem.A · 72% proficient
- Mason Ridge Elem.A · 65% proficient
Top middle schools
- Crestview MiddleA · 64% proficient
- West MiddleA · 59% proficient
- Selvidge MiddleA− · 57% proficient
Top high schools
- West HighA− · 62% proficient
- Marquette Sr. HighA− · 62% proficient
- Eureka Sr. HighB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Ballwin school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ballwin measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Ballwin against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Ballwin suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 96% of cities, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 21% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Ballwin
Is Ballwin a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ballwin ranks 359th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on a stable housing market, what local pay buys, and health care access, and lowest on walkability and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Ballwin expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $377,962. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $129,194 median income, cost of living beats 96% of cities.
Is Ballwin safe?
Ballwin is safer than 51% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $359 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Ballwin?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 42 with lows near 24. That works out to about 70 pleasant days a year, more than 26% of cities.
Is Ballwin good for families?
Schools beat 77% of cities, crime safety beats 51%, and childcare runs $1,131 a month.
Compare Ballwin with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ballwin. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ballwin represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Ballwin detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ballwin: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ballwin: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ballwin: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ballwin: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ballwin detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.