PlainCompare

Metro Life Score

St. Louis, MO-IL

54.7
Life Score / 100
B
Grade (curved)
#129
of 387 metros
67%
of metros outranked

Data updated May 2026

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

The verdict

St. Louis ranks #129 of 387 US metros, ahead of 67% - carried by its rent (98/100) and held back most by schools (13/100).

98
strongest: Rent
87
then: Environment
13
weakest: Schools
7
weighted dimensions

Where St. Louis sits among all US metros

Composite Life Score vs the national field

55 67th percentile higher than 67% 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%). This entry sits in this band. 55–60: 68 US metros (18%). Above this entry. 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. Louis Life Score

St. Louis's composite score of 54.7 out of 100, a grade of B, places the metro at rank #129 of 387, ahead of 67% of US metros. The strongest inputs are Rent (98/100) 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 95.1 (rent-RPP 79.0). BLS median salary $68,074, 1,311,920 jobs (General and Operations Managers, Home Health and Personal Care Aides, Registered Nurses). HUD 2BR FMR $916/mo (studio $632).

FBI UCR (MO): 463 violent, 1972 property/100K. NCES: 12.8:1 ratio, 3.5% charter. EPA: 39 Superfund sites (MO). Ranks #126-#132 below.

Dimension detail

How St. Louis scores, dimension by dimension

Score Breakdown

Cost of Living Wages Rent Safety Schools Childcare Environment

Dimension Scores

Cost of Living 43/100 (20%)
Wages 69/100 (20%)
Rent 98/100 (15%)
Safety 14/100 (15%)
Schools 13/100 (10%)
Childcare -/100 (10%)
Environment 87/100 (10%)

Key Data Points

95.1
Cost Index (RPP)
$68,074
Avg Median Salary
$916
2BR Fair Market Rent
463
Violent Crime/100K (MO)
12.8:1
Student-Teacher Ratio
39
Superfund Sites (MO)
1,311,920
Total Employment

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

Compare St. Louis With...

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

Ranking Context

St. Louis outranks 67% of U.S. metros.

Rank Metro Score Grade
#126 Sebring, FL 54.8 B
#127 Jackson, MS 54.8 B
#128 Tallahassee, FL 54.9 B
#129 St. Louis, MO-IL 54.7 B
#130 Durham-Chapel Hill, NC 54.7 B
#131 Williamsport, PA 54.7 B
#132 Birmingham, AL 54.5 B

MO Metro Scores

St. Joseph, MO-KS B+ 55.5 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. Louis's Life Score

St. Louis 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 rent (98/100) and its weakest is schools (13/100) - weigh those against your own priorities. How the score is built
  • Put St. Louis head-to-head against another metro before you decide, every dimension, side by side. Compare metros
  • See where St. Louis 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. Louis's biggest strengths? ▼
St. Louis's strongest dimensions are Rent (98/100), Environment (87/100), Wages (69/100). Rent is top-tier nationally.
What are St. Louis's weakest areas? ▼
St. Louis's lowest-scoring dimensions are Schools (13/100), Safety (14/100), Cost of Living (43/100). Schools weighs heavily on the composite.
How expensive is St. Louis compared to the national average? ▼
St. Louis's Regional Price Parity is 95.1 (4.9% less than national); rent RPP 79.0.
What is the average salary in St. Louis? ▼
St. Louis median salary: $68,074, 1,311,920 jobs. Top: General and Operations Managers, Home Health and Personal Care Aides, Registered Nurses.
How is the life score calculated? ▼
St. Louis's 54.7/100 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.