PlainCompare

Metro Life Score

St. Joseph, MO-KS

55.5
Life Score / 100
B+
Grade (curved)
#114
of 387 metros
71%
of metros outranked

Data updated May 2026

Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census

The verdict

St. Joseph ranks #114 of 387 US metros, ahead of 71% - carried by its cost of living (93/100) and held back most by schools (13/100).

93
strongest: Cost of Living
87
then: Environment
13
weakest: Schools
7
weighted dimensions

Where St. Joseph sits among all US metros

Composite Life Score vs the national field

56 71th percentile higher than 71% of 387 US metros

25–30: 1 US metros (0%). Below this entry. 30–35: 16 US metros (4%). Below this entry. 35–40: 46 US metros (12%). Below this entry. 40–45: 53 US metros (14%). Below this entry. 45–50: 81 US metros (21%). Below this entry. 50–55: 67 US metros (17%). Below this entry. 55–60: 68 US metros (18%). This entry sits in this band. 60–65: 40 US metros (10%). Above this entry. 65–70: 12 US metros (3%). Above this entry. 70–75: 3 US metros (1%). Above this entry. This metro 25 75 every US metro, bucketed by value

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more US metros. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source PlainCompare composite of BEA, BLS, HUD, FBI, NCES, DOL, EPA data · May 2026

How the score is built

Reading the St. Joseph Life Score

St. Joseph's composite score of 55.5 out of 100, a grade of B+, places the metro at rank #114 of 387, ahead of 71% of US metros. The strongest inputs are Cost of Living (93/100) and Environment (87/100), which pull the composite upward, while Schools (13/100) and Safety (14/100) drag it downward. (How the weighting works.)

BEA RPP 86.4 (rent-RPP 55.4). BLS median salary $61,551, 49,300 jobs (Home Health and Personal Care Aides, General and Operations Managers, Registered Nurses). HUD 2BR FMR $1,077/mo (studio $774).

FBI UCR (MO): 463 violent, 1972 property/100K. NCES: 12.8:1 ratio, 3.5% charter. EPA: 39 Superfund sites (MO). Ranks #111-#117 below.

Dimension detail

How St. Joseph scores, dimension by dimension

Score Breakdown

Cost of Living Wages Rent Safety Schools Childcare Environment

Dimension Scores

Cost of Living 93/100 (20%)
Wages 32/100 (20%)
Rent 86/100 (15%)
Safety 14/100 (15%)
Schools 13/100 (10%)
Childcare -/100 (10%)
Environment 87/100 (10%)

Key Data Points

86.4
Cost Index (RPP)
$61,551
Avg Median Salary
$1,077
2BR Fair Market Rent
463
Violent Crime/100K (MO)
12.8:1
Student-Teacher Ratio
39
Superfund Sites (MO)
49,300
Total Employment

Crime, schools, childcare, and environment data shown at state level where metro-specific data is unavailable.

Compare St. Joseph With...

St. Joseph vs St. Louis Compare → St. Joseph vs Joplin Compare → St. Joseph vs Springfield Compare → St. Joseph vs Wildwood Compare → St. Joseph vs Waterloo Compare → St. Joseph vs Paducah Compare →

Ranking Context

St. Joseph outranks 71% of U.S. metros.

Rank Metro Score Grade
#111 Warner Robins, GA 55.6 B+
#112 Kalamazoo-Portage, MI 55.6 B+
#113 Fond du Lac, WI 55.6 B+
#114 St. Joseph, MO-KS 55.5 B+
#115 Rome, GA 55.5 B+
#116 Lansing-East Lansing, MI 55.4 B+
#117 Manhattan, KS 55.2 B+

MO Metro Scores

St. Louis, MO-IL B 54.7 Joplin, MO-KS B- 51.7 Springfield, MO B- 49.7 Jefferson City, MO C+ 46.5 Kansas City, MO-KS C 45.5 Cape Girardeau, MO-IL C 44.5

Using St. Joseph's Life Score

St. Joseph is a regional baseline, not a neighborhood reading, use it to shortlist, then dig into the dimensions that matter to you.

  • Its strongest dimension is cost of living (93/100) and its weakest is schools (13/100) - weigh those against your own priorities. How the score is built
  • Put St. Joseph head-to-head against another metro before you decide, every dimension, side by side. Compare metros
  • See where St. Joseph lands on the national rankings for cost, safety, pay and more. Browse rankings

Scores summarize federal data at the metro level; crime, schools and cost vary widely within a single metro.

Explore more

Frequently Asked Questions

What are St. Joseph's biggest strengths? ▼
St. Joseph's strongest dimensions are Cost of Living (93/100), Environment (87/100), Rent (86/100). Cost of Living is top-tier nationally.
What are St. Joseph's weakest areas? ▼
St. Joseph's lowest-scoring dimensions are Schools (13/100), Safety (14/100), Wages (32/100). Schools weighs heavily on the composite.
How expensive is St. Joseph compared to the national average? ▼
St. Joseph's Regional Price Parity is 86.4 (13.6% less than national); rent RPP 55.4.
What is the average salary in St. Joseph? ▼
St. Joseph median salary: $61,551, 49,300 jobs. Top: Home Health and Personal Care Aides, General and Operations Managers, Registered Nurses.
How is the life score calculated? ▼
St. Joseph's 55.5/100 blends 7 federal-data dimensions - see our methodology page for the weighting.

Research Guides

Data from BEA, HUD, FBI UCR, BLS OES, NCES, DOL, and EPA. Not affiliated with the U.S. Government.

Related

Data sourced from official public datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCompare Editorial

Disclaimer: This information is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. Data is sourced from BEA, BLS, HUD, FBI, NCES, DOL, and EPA. Consult a qualified professional before making decisions based on this data.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

All federal data sources used on this page
  • U.S. Census Bureau ACS - multi-dimension demographic + housing + income aggregates for cross-area comparison. census.gov/programs-surveys/acs
  • BEA Regional Economic Accounts - GDP, personal income, employment by state and metro. bea.gov/data/regional
  • BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) - wage estimates for comparable-area indexing. bls.gov/oes
  • FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) - crime statistics for safety-score component. fbi.gov/ucr
  • NCES Common Core of Data - public-school quality indicators by area. nces.ed.gov/ccd
  • EPA AirNow + Air Quality System (AQS) - air-quality measurements by area. epa.gov/outdoor-air-quality-data
  • HUD Fair Market Rents (FMR) - county and metro housing-cost indicators. huduser.gov/datasets/fmr

Every figure on PlainCompare is loaded directly from BEA, HUD, FBI UCR, BLS OEWS, NCES, DOL, EPA, and the Census Bureau, no number is typed in by an editor. This metro's Life Score is computed directly from the 7 federal sources cited above. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026.