Best PlacesCentral West End, St. Louis, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Central West End, St. Louis, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Central West End, St. Louis ranks 3,766th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and the schools rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Central West End, St. Louis
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.
Central West End, St. Louis' strengths and weaknesses
Where Central West End, St. Louis ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 92% of neighborhoods
- Educational attainmentBetter than 92% of neighborhoods
- Short commute17.4 minutes each way, better than 92% of neighborhoods
- Internet speedBetter than 87% of neighborhoods
- WalkabilityBetter than 86% of neighborhoods
Where Central West End, St. Louis ranks low
- School gradeF, better than only 1% of neighborhoods
- Crime safetyBetter than only 7% of neighborhoods
- Nice weatherabout 64 pleasant days a year, better than only 15% of neighborhoods
- Low vacancyBetter than only 19% of neighborhoods
- Heat safetyBetter than only 24% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Central West End, St. Louis
A household needs to earn about $129,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Central West End, St. Louis home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $58,586, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Central West End, St. Louis' effective rate of 1.29%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Central West End, St. Louis
Central West End, St. Louis runs younger than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Central West End, St. Louis.
Who works in Central West End, St. Louis, and how
Work in Central West End, St. Louis centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 57%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 25%
Life in Central West End, St. Louis
Central West End, St. Louis has more restaurants and bars per resident than 80% of neighborhoods. That concentrates in some parts of Central West End, St. Louis and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Central West End, St. Louis, month by month
Central West End, St. Louis sees roughly 64 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 42, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42° | 33° | 26° |
| April | 70° | 57° | 46° |
| July | 90° | 80° | 70° |
| October | 72° | 59° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Central West End, St. Louis
St Louis Lambert International sits about 10 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 Central West End, St. Louis
Schools across Central West End, St. Louis average an F, better than 1% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- The BiomeD− · 14% proficient
- Nahed Chapman New American AcaF · 3% proficient
Top middle schools
- Acad Of Entre Stdy@louvertureF · 5% proficient
Top high schools
- Metro HighA · 74% proficient
- Carnahan Sch. Of The FutureF · 5% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Central West End, St. Louis school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Central West End, St. Louis 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 Central West End, St. Louis against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Central West End, St. Louis
Is Central West End, St. Louis a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Central West End, St. Louis ranks 3,766th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on a strong job market, an educated workforce, and short commutes, and lowest on the schools and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Central West End, St. Louis expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $461,247. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $58,586 median income, cost of living beats 58% of neighborhoods.
Is Central West End, St. Louis safe?
Central West End, St. Louis is safer than 7% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,168 per resident a year.
Compare Central West End, St. Louis with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Central West End, St. Louis. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Central West End, St. Louis 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.
Central West End, St. Louis detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Central West End, St. Louis: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Central West End, St. Louis: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Central West End, St. Louis: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Central West End, St. Louis: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Central West End, St. Louis 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.