Best PlacesSt. Louis City, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in St. Louis City, 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.
St. Louis City ranks 2,597th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It ranks low mainly on the schools and crime. It does better on walkability, which keeps it off the bottom.
The best neighborhoods in St. Louis City
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. Louis City's strengths and weaknesses
St. Louis City ranks near the bottom because several of the basics fall short at once. Walkability is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. Transit and biking follow.
The weak spots are broad rather than narrow: the schools, crime, and noise all drag on the score. Those are area averages, and the map below shows which parts run well above them.
Where St. Louis City ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 99% of counties
- TransitBetter than 99% of counties
- BikingBetter than 96% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 94% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 90% of counties
Where St. Louis City ranks low
- School gradeF, better than only 1% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 1% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 1% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 5% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 10% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in St. Louis City
A household needs to earn about $59,000 a year to comfortably buy the median St. Louis City home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $61,777, 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. Louis City's 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 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. Louis City
St. Louis City'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. Louis City.
Who works in St. Louis City, and how
Work in St. Louis City centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 68%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 16%
Life in St. Louis City
St. Louis City has more restaurants and bars per resident than 87% of counties and more parkland per resident than 94% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of St. Louis City and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is St. Louis City growing, and who is moving in?
St. Louis City has lost about 12% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the St Louis, MO metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving St. Louis City go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in St. Louis City, month by month
St. Louis City sees roughly 63 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 St. Louis City
St Louis Lambert International sits about 11 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. Louis City
Schools across St. Louis City average an F, better than 1% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Mallinckrodt A.b.i. Elem.A+ · 90% proficient
- Betty Wheeler Classical Jr. AcA+ · 78% proficient
- Lafayette Preparatory AcademyB · 48% proficient
Top middle schools
- Kairos AcademiesC · 35% proficient
- Gateway Science Academy MiddleC · 34% proficient
- Grand Center Arts Acad MiddleD− · 18% proficient
Top high schools
- Collegiate School Of Med/bioA · 75% proficient
- Metro HighA · 74% proficient
- Mckinley Class. Leadership Ac.A− · 65% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every St. Louis City school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
St. Louis City 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. Louis City against the other 3,143 counties.
Who St. Louis City suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 16% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in St. Louis City
Is St. Louis City a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, St. Louis City ranks 2,597th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on walkability, transit, and biking, 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 St. Louis City expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $219,579. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $61,777 median income, cost of living beats 57% of counties.
Is St. Louis City safe?
St. Louis City is safer than 0% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,451 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in St. Louis City?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 42 with lows near 26. That works out to about 63 pleasant days a year, more than 10% of counties.
Is St. Louis City good for families?
Schools beat 0% of counties, crime safety beats 0%, and childcare runs $908 a month.
Is St. Louis City good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 57% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 88% of counties. About 16% of workers already work from home.
Compare St. Louis City with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to St. Louis City. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in St. Louis City 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. Louis City detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for St. Louis City: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in St. Louis City: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of St. Louis City: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in St. Louis City: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
St. Louis City 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.