Best PlacesSt. Louis, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in the St. Louis metro, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Photo by [ https://www.flickr.com/photos/11399912@N00 B0iwehijro2i0- ] `1l]] from Davis, CA, USA, CC BY 2.0, via commons
St. Louis ranks 259th of 387 U.S. metro areas on the BestNeighborhood index. It ranks low mainly on noise and crime. It does better on what local pay buys, which keeps it off the bottom.
The best neighborhoods in the St. Louis metro
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.
The best areas in St. Louis
The towns and districts of the St. Louis metro, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood in each, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the metro.
Chesterfield, Maryland Heights & Creve Coeur
Incomes run higher, more adults hold degrees, and local pay stretches further.
St. Charles, St. Peters & O'fallon
Crime runs lower and schools score higher.
Fenton, Ballwin & Washington
Tree cover is thicker, though biking is worse.
Edwardsville, Glen Carbon & Alton
Homes cost less and it is quieter.
Collinsville, Granite City & O'Fallon
Scores close to Edwardsville, Glen Carbon & Alton, except that more households have young kids here.
Belleville & Shiloh
Oakville, Mehlville & Arnold
Scores close to Belleville & Shiloh, except that streets are more walkable here.
Downtown St. Louis
Transit reaches more jobs, though more homes sit empty.
Florissant, Hazelwood & Old Jamestown
Health care is harder to reach and health outcomes score lower.
St. Louis shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 1% of the country and others in the top 2%. Pick the area first, then the home.
St. Louis' strengths and weaknesses
St. Louis lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. What local pay buys, a stable housing market, and an educated workforce carry most of that.
The one real hole is noise, near the bottom of the country. Crime and the weather also cost it ground. That varies block to block rather than evenly, and the map below shows where.
Where St. Louis ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 96% of metro areas
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 89% of metro areas
- Educational attainmentBetter than 80% of metro areas
- Household income$91,901 median, better than 78% of metro areas
- Healthcare accessBetter than 76% of metro areas
Where St. Louis ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 2% of metro areas
- Crime safetyBetter than only 4% of metro areas
- Nice weatherabout 64 pleasant days a year, better than only 11% of metro areas
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 25% of metro areas
- Low property taxBetter than only 28% of metro areas
What it costs to buy a home in St. Louis
A household needs to earn about $75,000 a year to comfortably buy the median St. Louis home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $91,901, 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' effective rate of 1.23%, 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 St. Louis
St. Louis's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for St. Louis.
Who works in St. Louis, and how
Work in St. Louis centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in St. Louis
St. Louis has more restaurants and bars per resident than 87% of metro areas and more parkland per resident than 82% of metro areas. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of St. Louis and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is St. Louis growing, and who is moving in?
St. Louis has held roughly flat in population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Chicago, IL.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving St. Louis 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, month by month
St. Louis 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. 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 St. Louis
Schools across St. Louis average a C, better than 28% of metro areas.
Top elementary schools
- Mallinckrodt A.b.i. Elem.A+ · 90% proficient
- Betty Wheeler Classical Jr. AcA+ · 78% proficient
- Conway ElementaryA+ · 78% proficient
Top middle schools
- Wydown MiddleA+ · 70% proficient
- Rockwood Valley MiddleA · 64% proficient
- Ladue Fifth Grade CenterA · 64% proficient
Top high schools
- Collegiate School Of Med/bioA · 75% proficient
- Metro HighA · 74% proficient
- Kirkwood Sr. HighA · 71% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every St. Louis school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
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 St. Louis against the other 386 metro areas.
Who St. Louis suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 96% of metro areas, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 16% already work from home.
Common questions about living in St. Louis
Is St. Louis a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, St. Louis ranks 259th of 387 metro areas. It scores highest on what local pay buys, a stable housing market, and an educated workforce, and lowest on noise 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 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $271,571. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $91,901 median income, cost of living beats 96% of metro areas.
Is St. Louis safe?
St. Louis is safer than 4% of metro areas. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $613 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in St. Louis?
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 metro areas.
What are the best neighborhoods in St. Louis?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Chesterfield, Maryland Heights & Creve Coeur, St. Charles, St. Peters & O'fallon, and Fenton, Ballwin & Washington. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is St. Louis good for families?
Schools beat 28% of metro areas, crime safety beats 4%, and childcare runs $975 a month.
Is St. Louis good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 96% of metro areas, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 70% of metro areas. About 16% of workers already work from home.
Compare St. Louis with other metro areas
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to St. Louis. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 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.
St. Louis detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for St. Louis: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in St. Louis: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of St. Louis: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in St. Louis: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
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.
- 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.