Best PlacesWest End, St. Louis, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around West End, 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.
West End, St. Louis ranks 5,491st of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. The schools pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on state finances.
The best neighborhoods in West End, 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.
West End, St. Louis' strengths and weaknesses
Where West End, St. Louis ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 81% of neighborhoods
- Short commute20.9 minutes each way, better than 74% of neighborhoods
- Cheap childcare$926 a month, better than 72% of neighborhoods
- WalkabilityBetter than 67% of neighborhoods
- State infrastructureBetter than 65% of neighborhoods
Where West End, St. Louis ranks low
- School gradeF, better than only 1% of neighborhoods
- Crime safetyBetter than only 2% of neighborhoods
- Low vacancyBetter than only 3% of neighborhoods
- Nice weatherabout 58 pleasant days a year, better than only 6% of neighborhoods
- Internet speedBetter than only 7% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in West End, St. Louis
A household needs to earn about $67,000 a year to comfortably buy the median West End, St. Louis home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $54,997, 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 West End, St. Louis' effective rate of 0.86%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in West End, St. Louis
West End, 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 West End, St. Louis.
Who works in West End, St. Louis, and how
Work in West End, St. Louis centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 60%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 24%
Life in West End, St. Louis
West End, St. Louis has more restaurants and bars per resident than 70% of neighborhoods. That concentrates in some parts of West End, St. Louis and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in West End, St. Louis, month by month
West End, St. Louis sees roughly 58 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 West End, St. Louis
St Louis Lambert International sits about 8 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 West End, St. Louis
Schools across West End, St. Louis average an F, better than 1% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Flynn Park Elem.B− · 42% proficient
- Pershing Elem.D− · 12% proficient
- Kipp Victory AcademyF · 7% proficient
Top middle schools
- Brittany WoodsD− · 14% proficient
- Kipp Triumph AcademyF · 10% proficient
- Acad Of Entre Stdy@louvertureF · 5% proficient
Top high schools
- University City Sr. HighD · 23% proficient
- Carnahan Sch. Of The FutureF · 5% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every West End, St. Louis school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
West End, 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 West End, St. Louis against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in West End, St. Louis
Is West End, St. Louis a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, West End, St. Louis ranks 5,491st of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on state finances, short commutes, 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 West End, St. Louis expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $254,673. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $54,997 median income, cost of living beats 36% of neighborhoods.
Is West End, St. Louis safe?
West End, St. Louis is safer than 2% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,537 per resident a year.
Compare West End, St. Louis with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to West End, St. Louis. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in West End, 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.
West End, St. Louis detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for West End, St. Louis: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in West End, St. Louis: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of West End, St. Louis: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in West End, St. Louis: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
West End, 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.