St. Louis, MO
St. Louis, MO-IL Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole St. Louis, MO-IL Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, St. Louis ranks 91st for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 100th for income. A household earns $81,679 a year while median rent runs $1,154/mo, making it moderately affordable for what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 5% below the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is job market (72nd of 300), while air quality is the soft spot (273rd). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 117th and home prices 109th among the 300 metros CityLedger tracks.
For your salary & household
Enter your pay and household size to see what it's really worth here — the numbers update live and the link stays shareable.
On $75,000 for just you in St. Louis, your take-home is worth about $61,737 once local prices are factored in — local prices stretch it further than the U.S. average.
Take-home estimates a single filer taking the standard deduction (2025 federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax) and isn't tax advice. “Real value” rebases take-home to average U.S. prices using the BEA cost-of-living index; the per-person figure uses the OECD square-root equivalence scale.
The numbers
Income & cost
- Median income
- 100th of 300↑23%$81,679
- Cost of living?The local price level vs. the U.S. average of 100 (BEA). Lower means cheaper. This is raw prices, not adjusted for income.
- 151st of 30095 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $85,898
- Per-capita income
- $46,578
- Full-time pay
- $50,104
Housing
- Median rent
- 117th of 300↑30.7%$1,154/mo
- Home value
- 109th of 300↑45.3%$268,300
- Property tax
- $3,014/yr · 1.1%
- Sales tax
- 8.41%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 72nd of 3003.6%
- Bachelor's+
- 80th of 30039.5%
- Avg commute
- 193rd of 30025.4 min
People
- Population
- 2,809,527
- Population change
- +0.3%
- Median age
- 40.2 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 5.6%
- Broadband
- 93.9%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 273rd of 30055
- Natural-hazard loss
- 208th of 300$16/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 116th of 30017.5%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 7.7%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (ACS), U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. EPA, FEMA, CDC, NOAA — every figure's source is listed on our methodology page. Data built 2026-06-14. ↑↓ mark the change since 2019.
How CityLedger scores it
Transparent weights — see our methodology.
Strengths
- + Affordability
- + Household income
- + Job market
- + Education
Watch-outs
- – Air quality
- – Hazard safety
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — st louis lambert intl ap.
What jobs pay in St. Louis
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- IT managers
- $167,130
- Financial managers
- $158,780
- Lawyers
- $142,690
- Pharmacists
- $138,530
- Software developers
- $129,030
- Web developers
- $106,360
- Civil engineers
- $96,830
- General & operations managers
- $93,140
- Registered nurses
- $83,180
- Accountants & auditors
- $78,880
- Electricians
- $77,170
- Plumbers
- $77,000
- Family medicine physicians
- $76,830
- Police officers
- $73,240
- Carpenters
- $70,990
- Construction laborers
- $64,500
- Secondary school teachers
- $62,130
- Elementary school teachers
- $60,650
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $58,240
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $53,930
- Customer service reps
- $45,800
- Janitors
- $36,620
- Retail salespersons
- $33,820
- Cashiers
- $32,380
- Waiters & waitresses
- $31,200
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS 2025 — annual median wage. Cross-industry, all experience levels.
Where new residents move from
The states sending the most people to the St. Louis metro, by estimated movers (U.S. Census 2022 migration flows, 5-year). Moves from elsewhere in Missouri are excluded to show where out-of-state arrivals originate.
- California3,477
- Texas3,084
- Florida2,852
- Georgia2,384
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like St. Louis
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
St. Louis metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the St. Louis metro?
- Median gross rent across the St. Louis, MO-IL Metro Area is $1,154 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of St. Louis.
- What is the median household income in the St. Louis metro?
- A typical household in the St. Louis, MO-IL Metro Area earns $81,679 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is St. Louis expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the St. Louis, MO-IL Metro Area runs about 5% below the U.S. average (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024) — prices are lower than average, before accounting for local pay.
- Does a paycheck go far in the St. Louis metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $85,898 (versus its face value of $81,679). CityLedger rates the St. Louis, MO-IL Metro Area moderately affordable for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the St. Louis metro?
- The median home value across the St. Louis, MO-IL Metro Area is $268,300 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the St. Louis metro?
- The unemployment rate in the St. Louis, MO-IL Metro Area is 3.6% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).