Best PlacesDowntown West, St. Louis, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Downtown West, 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.
Downtown West, St. Louis ranks 4,486th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on walkability by a wide margin, and the schools rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Downtown West, 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.
Downtown West, St. Louis' strengths and weaknesses
Where Downtown West, St. Louis ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 95% of neighborhoods
- TransitBetter than 89% of neighborhoods
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 89% of neighborhoods
- State fiscal healthBetter than 81% of neighborhoods
- Educational attainmentBetter than 77% of neighborhoods
Where Downtown West, St. Louis ranks low
- School gradeF, better than only 1% of neighborhoods
- Crime safetyBetter than only 1% of neighborhoods
- Tree shadeBetter than only 3% of neighborhoods
- Low vacancyBetter than only 6% of neighborhoods
- QuietBetter than only 10% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Downtown West, St. Louis
A household needs to earn about $66,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Downtown West, St. Louis home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $60,034; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Downtown West, St. Louis' effective rate of 1.12%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Downtown West, St. Louis
Downtown West, 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 Downtown West, St. Louis.
Who works in Downtown West, St. Louis, and how
Work in Downtown West, St. Louis centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 62%
- Work from home 24%
- Transit, walk, or bike 14%
Life in Downtown West, St. Louis
Downtown West, St. Louis has more restaurants and bars per resident than 92% of neighborhoods. That concentrates in some parts of Downtown West, St. Louis and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Downtown West, St. Louis, month by month
Downtown West, 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 Downtown West, St. Louis
St Louis Lambert International sits about 12 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 Downtown West, St. Louis
Schools across Downtown West, St. Louis average an F, better than 1% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- St Louis Lang Immersion SchoolC · 35% proficient
- Nahed Chapman New American AcaF · 3% proficient
Top middle schools
- Acad Of Entre Stdy@louvertureF · 5% proficient
Top high schools
- Kipp St. Louis HighD · 19% proficient
- Confluence Preparatory AcademyD− · 15% proficient
- Carnahan Sch. Of The FutureF · 5% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Downtown West, St. Louis school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Downtown West, 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 Downtown West, St. Louis against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Downtown West, St. Louis
Is Downtown West, St. Louis a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Downtown West, St. Louis ranks 4,486th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on walkability, transit, and a stable housing market, 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 Downtown West, St. Louis expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $243,287. The overall cost of living runs about 24% below the national average. Set against a $60,034 median income, cost of living beats 62% of neighborhoods.
Is Downtown West, St. Louis safe?
Downtown West, St. Louis is safer than 1% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,754 per resident a year.
Compare Downtown West, St. Louis with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Downtown West, St. Louis. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Downtown West, 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.
Downtown West, St. Louis detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Downtown West, St. Louis: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Downtown West, St. Louis: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Downtown West, St. Louis: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Downtown West, St. Louis: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Downtown West, 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.