Best PlacesGrand Center, St. Louis, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Grand Center, 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.
Grand Center, St. Louis ranks 5,736th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. The schools pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on walkability.
The best neighborhoods in Grand Center, 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.
Grand Center, St. Louis' strengths and weaknesses
Where Grand Center, St. Louis ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 81% of neighborhoods
- State fiscal healthBetter than 81% of neighborhoods
- Cheap childcare$908 a month, better than 76% of neighborhoods
- Cell coverageBetter than 72% of neighborhoods
- TransitBetter than 71% of neighborhoods
Where Grand Center, St. Louis ranks low
- School gradeF, better than only 1% of neighborhoods
- Crime safetyBetter than only 2% of neighborhoods
- Household income$32,913 median, better than only 5% of neighborhoods
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 6% of neighborhoods
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 8% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Grand Center, St. Louis
A household needs to earn about $57,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Grand Center, St. Louis home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $32,913, 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 Grand Center, St. Louis' effective rate of 0.99%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Grand Center, St. Louis
Grand Center, 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 Grand Center, St. Louis.
Who works in Grand Center, St. Louis, and how
Work in Grand Center, St. Louis centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 62%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 27%
Life in Grand Center, St. Louis
Grand Center, St. Louis has more restaurants and bars per resident than 87% of neighborhoods. That concentrates in some parts of Grand Center, St. Louis and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Grand Center, St. Louis, month by month
Grand Center, 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 Grand Center, 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 Grand Center, St. Louis
Schools across Grand Center, St. Louis average an F, better than 1% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- George Washington Carver ElemF · 9% proficient
- Nahed Chapman New American AcaF · 3% proficient
Top middle schools
- Grand Center Arts Acad MiddleD− · 18% proficient
- North Side Community-grand CtrD− · 15% proficient
- Acad Of Entre Stdy@louvertureF · 5% proficient
Top high schools
- Grand Center Arts Academy HighD · 18% proficient
- Miller Career AcademyF · 5% proficient
- Carnahan Sch. Of The FutureF · 5% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Grand Center, St. Louis school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Grand Center, 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 Grand Center, St. Louis against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Grand Center, St. Louis
Is Grand Center, St. Louis a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Grand Center, St. Louis ranks 5,736th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on walkability, state finances, and affordable childcare, 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 Grand Center, St. Louis expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $210,920. The overall cost of living runs about 22% below the national average. Set against a $32,913 median income, cost of living beats 6% of neighborhoods.
Is Grand Center, St. Louis safe?
Grand Center, St. Louis is safer than 2% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,481 per resident a year.
Compare Grand Center, St. Louis with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Grand Center, St. Louis. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Grand Center, 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.
Grand Center, St. Louis detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Grand Center, St. Louis: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Grand Center, St. Louis: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Grand Center, St. Louis: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Grand Center, St. Louis: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Grand Center, 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.