Best PlacesSt. Charles, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around St. Charles, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
St. Charles ranks 133rd of 445 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It does not top any single list, but it lands above the national middle on health care access and a stable housing market. The weaker spots are transit, biking, and the weather.
The best neighborhoods in St. Charles
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.
St. Charles' strengths and weaknesses
St. Charles lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Health care access is the standout, in the top 2% of cities. A stable housing market and what local pay buys follow.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. Transit, biking, and the weather hold the score down. That one depends almost entirely on which part you pick, which is what the map below settles.
Where St. Charles ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 98% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 95% of cities
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 91% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than 81% of cities
- School gradeB+, better than 78% of cities
Where St. Charles ranks low
- TransitBetter than only 5% of cities
- BikingBetter than only 6% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 64 pleasant days a year, better than only 11% of cities
- QuietBetter than only 13% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than only 14% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in St. Charles
A household needs to earn about $82,000 a year to comfortably buy the median St. Charles home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $101,701, 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 St. Charles' effective rate of 1.01%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in St. Charles
St. Charles's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 St. Charles.
Who works in St. Charles, and how
Work in St. Charles centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in St. Charles
St. Charles has more restaurants and bars per resident than 70% of cities and more parkland per resident than 90% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of St. Charles and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in St. Charles, month by month
St. Charles sees roughly 64 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 33° | 24° |
| April | 72° | 58° | 46° |
| July | 93° | 81° | 71° |
| October | 74° | 61° | 50° |
Flying in and out of St. Charles
St Louis Lambert International sits about 9 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 St. Charles
Schools across St. Charles average a B+, better than 78% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Lincoln Elem.A · 68% proficient
- Independence Elem.A · 66% proficient
- Warren Elem.A · 64% proficient
Top middle schools
- Francis Howell MiddleA · 63% proficient
- Saeger MiddleA− · 58% proficient
- Hollenbeck MiddleA− · 57% proficient
Top high schools
- Francis Howell HighB+ · 56% proficient
- Ft. Zumwalt East HighB+ · 54% proficient
- Francis Howell Central HighB+ · 53% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every St. Charles school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
St. Charles 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 St. Charles against the other 444 cities.
Who St. Charles suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 91% of cities, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 18% already work from home.
Common questions about living in St. Charles
Is St. Charles a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, St. Charles ranks 133rd of 445 cities. It scores highest on health care access, a stable housing market, and what local pay buys, and lowest on transit and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is St. Charles expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $305,770. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $101,701 median income, cost of living beats 91% of cities.
Is St. Charles safe?
Yes, St. Charles is safer than 72% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $352 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in St. Charles?
July highs average about 93 degrees, and January highs near 44 with lows near 24. That works out to about 64 pleasant days a year, more than 11% of cities.
Is St. Charles good for families?
Schools beat 78% of cities, crime safety beats 72%, and childcare runs $887 a month.
Is St. Charles good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 91% of cities, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 73% of cities. About 18% of workers already work from home.
Compare St. Charles with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to St. Charles. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in St. Charles 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.
St. Charles detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for St. Charles: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in St. Charles: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of St. Charles: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in St. Charles: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
St. Charles 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.