Cost of living in St. Louis, MO
The St. Louis, MO-IL metro area (2,809,527 people) ranks #104 of 149 for prices among the U.S. metro areas we cover. Here's what it costs to live there.
Hover over or tap a dot to see its value.
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Price level, from cheaper to pricier.
- The Villages, FL 85.4
- McAllen, TX 85.9
- Springfield, MO 88.6
- Wichita, KS 88.9
- Jackson, MS 89.0
- Tulsa, OK 89.2
- Columbus, GA 89.3
- Little Rock, AR 89.4
- El Paso, TX 89.9
- Oklahoma City, OK 90.4
- Sioux Falls, SD 90.6
- Baton Rouge, LA 90.8
- Clarksville, TN 90.9
- Fargo, ND 90.9
- Killeen, TX 91.1
- Spartanburg, SC 91.1
- Fayetteville, AR 91.4
- Chattanooga, TN 91.5
- Toledo, OH 91.5
- Birmingham, AL 91.6
- Des Moines, IA 91.7
- Augusta, GA 91.9
- Omaha, NE 91.9
- Fayetteville, NC 92.0
- Winston-Salem, NC 92.0
- Jacksonville, NC 92.1
- Memphis, TN 92.2
- Kansas City, MO 92.5
- Fort Wayne, IN 92.6
- Knoxville, TN 92.6
- New Orleans, LA 92.6
- Dayton, OH 92.7
- Greensboro, NC 92.9
- Lexington, KY 92.9
- Huntsville, AL 93.1
- Louisville, KY 93.1
- Greenville, SC 93.3
- Akron, OH 93.4
- Billings, MT 93.5
- Myrtle Beach, SC 93.6
- Columbia, SC 93.7
- Cleveland, OH 93.9
- Daphne, AL 94.7
- Pittsburgh, PA 94.7
- San Antonio, TX 94.7
- St. Louis, MO 95.1
- Ocala, FL 95.2
- Savannah, GA 95.2
- Cincinnati, OH 95.4
- Albuquerque, NM 95.5
- Columbus, OH 95.5
- Grand Rapids, MI 95.5
- Indianapolis, IN 95.7
- Syracuse, NY 95.7
- Buffalo, NY 95.8
- Nashville, TN 96.3
- Wilmington, NC 96.4
- Asheville, NC 96.5
- Cheyenne, WY 96.5
- Gainesville, FL 96.7
- Milwaukee, WI 96.9
- Tucson, AZ 96.9
- Crestview, FL 97.0
- Rochester, NY 97.0
- Lakeland, FL 97.1
- Charlotte, NC 97.3
- Madison, WI 97.3
- Panama City, FL 97.3
- Durham, NC 97.6
- Pensacola, FL 97.7
- Richmond, VA 97.9
- Virginia Beach, VA 97.9
- Hilton Head Island, SC 98.0
- Austin, TX 98.1
- Provo, UT 98.2
- Raleigh, NC 98.2
- Prescott, AZ 98.3
- Boise, ID 98.4
- Houston, TX 98.6
- Harrisburg, PA 98.7
- Daytona Beach, FL 99.4
- Jacksonville, FL 99.5
- Albany, NY 99.6
- Allentown, PA 100.0
- Palm Bay, FL 100.0
- Atlanta, GA 100.1
- Greeley, CO 100.2
- Las Vegas, NV 100.2
- Port St. Lucie, FL 100.2
- Detroit, MI 100.3
- Ogden, UT 100.3
- Spokane, WA 100.3
- Norwich, CT 100.4
- Punta Gorda, FL 100.5
- Colorado Springs, CO 100.7
- Ann Arbor, MI 100.9
- Bakersfield, CA 100.9
- Burlington, VT 100.9
- Salt Lake City, UT 100.9
- Tampa, FL 100.9
- Charleston, SC 101.0
- Reno, NV 101.0
- Fort Collins, CO 101.1
- Orlando, FL 101.4
- Eugene, OR 101.6
- Providence, RI 101.8
- Portland, ME 101.9
- Fresno, CA 102.2
- Cape Coral, FL 102.3
- Sarasota, FL 102.4
- Worcester, MA 102.5
- Philadelphia, PA 102.6
- Hartford, CT 102.7
- Dallas, TX 103.1
- Naples, FL 103.2
- Trenton, NJ 103.2
- Phoenix, AZ 103.3
- Bend, OR 103.6
- Chicago, IL 103.6
- Olympia, WA 103.7
- Baltimore, MD 104.5
- New Haven, CT 104.6
- Minneapolis, MN 104.8
- Stockton, CA 105.1
- Boulder, CO 105.2
- Anchorage, AK 105.4
- Portland, OR 105.4
- Bremerton, WA 105.6
- Manchester, NH 105.7
- Denver, CO 105.8
- Riverside, CA 106.4
- Sacramento, CA 106.7
- Bridgeport, CT 106.9
- Santa Rosa, CA 107.8
- Boston, MA 108.3
- Vallejo, CA 108.5
- Santa Barbara, CA 108.8
- Washington, D.C. 108.9
- Salinas, CA 109.0
- Poughkeepsie, NY 109.4
- San Jose, CA 110.4
- Oxnard, CA 110.5
- Honolulu, HI 111.0
- Seattle, WA 111.1
- San Diego, CA 111.9
- New York, NY 112.6
- Los Angeles, CA 113.6
- Miami, FL 114.2
- San Francisco, CA 115.6
Compare St. Louis with your city
See what you'd need to earn in St. Louis to keep your lifestyle, after taxes and local prices. The calculator starts from Chicago, IL, which sends the most households here of the metros we cover (IRS, 2022–2023), using its median household income as an illustrative single-earner salary. Household income can include several earners and other income; it is not a typical individual wage. Pick your own city, salary and filing status.
Equal salary in St. Louis: $81,100
Compare any two of 149 U.S. metro areas. All cities
To keep the same lifestyle, you need about $81,100 in St. Louis, MO to match $90,000 in Chicago, IL ($8,900 less), after 2026 taxes and local prices.
Single filer, W-2 salary. Uses Illinois and Missouri state income tax; includes St. Louis resident tax $900 (inside city limits).
Prices and housing cover the metro area; taxes use Illinois and Missouri, their principal states. A metro can span several states; living in its other state can change the tax result.
What things cost in St. Louis
The vertical line marks the U.S. average (100). BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 for the metropolitan area.
Taxes in St. Louis
In this fixed example, one single filer earning an $80,000 W-2 salary keeps $61,549 after 2026 federal tax ($8,770), Social Security and Medicare ($6,120) and Missouri income tax ($2,761), and $800 in St. Louis resident income tax. The salary is rounded from median household income, not an observed individual wage. This example stays fixed when you change the calculator.
Prices and housing cover the full St. Louis, MO-IL metro area; the tax example uses its principal state, Missouri. A home in another state within the metro can have different taxes.
City of St. Louis residents pay a 1% earnings tax (renewed by voters in April 2026). St. Louis County is not included. If you live outside the city but work in it, you still pay the 1% earnings tax on those wages. St. Louis County and the Illinois suburbs have no local income tax.
Housing
| Measure | St. Louis area |
|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,154/mo |
| Median home value | $268,300 |
| Median property tax | $3,014/yr |
| Monthly cost to own the median home (20% down) | $1,854 |
| Median household income | $81,679 |
Climate and jobs in St. Louis
In the St. Louis area the average January low is 24°F and the average July high 90°F, and the area has about 47 days a year at 90°F or hotter. Unemployment averaged 4.0% in 2025, below the U.S. rate (4.3%), and the median wage across all jobs was $49,990 a year, 2% below the U.S. median.
| Climate | 1991–2020 average |
|---|---|
| January low | 24°F |
| July high | 90°F |
| Days 90°F or hotter | 47 a year |
| Precipitation | 42 in a year |
| Snowfall | 17 in a year |
| Jobs and pay | Metro area | U.S. |
|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rate, 2025 average | 4.0% | 4.3% |
| Median wage, all jobs (May 2025) | $49,990 | $50,980 |
| Wage and salary jobs (May 2025) | 1.3 million | 155.5 million |
Climate: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020 averages at the St. Louis Lambert International Airport station (USW00013994). Weather varies across a metro area, especially with elevation and distance from the coast. Jobs: unemployment from BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics; wages and job counts from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, which count wage and salary jobs, not the self-employed; wages are before taxes. The 2025 average covers 11 months: October 2025 data were not collected during the federal government shutdown.
Retiring in St. Louis
Our modeled retiree budget is about $3,067 a month here with a home owned outright, or $3,493 renting. It uses spending benchmarks for households with a reference person age 65 or older (BLS 2024), adjusted for local prices. These are household-based estimates, not observed spending by a single retiree in St. Louis. See where your budget goes furthest.
Where people move to and from St. Louis
IRS county-to-county migration data, 2022–2023, aggregated to the 149 metro areas we cover.
Natural hazard risk
RelocateMath's population-weighted mean of FEMA county risk scores for the St. Louis area is 92.2 of 100 (very high county-score mean), with modeled expected losses of about $711 per resident per year. A mean of county percentiles is not an official FEMA metro rating or a national metro percentile. It describes the counties in the metro; your property's risk can differ. Disaster risk by county in Missouri.
The vertical line marks county-score scale midpoint (50).
Frequently asked questions
What salary do you need to live in St. Louis?
In a fixed single-filer W-2 example living inside the principal city, about $75,400 in St. Louis matches the buying power of $75,000 in an average-priced area with no state income tax. The example uses 2026 federal taxes, Missouri state taxes and modeled resident local taxes where applicable. It stays fixed when calculator inputs change. Renting the median home at 30% of income takes $46,160, and buying the median home with 20% down takes about $79,440.
Is St. Louis expensive?
The St. Louis metro area's price level is 95.1 (U.S. = 100), #104 of the 149 metro areas we cover, from most to least expensive. Its housing rents price index is 79.0, 21% below the U.S. average.
Are people moving to St. Louis?
Counting moves to and from the other 148 metro areas we cover, St. Louis had a net loss of about 3,301 households in 2022–2023 (IRS county migration data).
What is the weather like in St. Louis?
In NOAA's 1991–2020 climate normals for the St. Louis area (St. Louis Lambert International Airport weather station), the average January low is 24°F and the average July high 90°F. The area has about 47 days a year at 90°F or hotter and gets 42 inches of precipitation a year and about 17 inches of snow.
What are jobs and pay like in St. Louis?
The St. Louis metro area's unemployment rate averaged 4.0% in 2025, below the U.S. rate (4.3%). The median wage across all jobs was $49,990 a year in May 2025, 2% below the U.S. median of $50,980 (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
What natural disasters affect St. Louis?
RelocateMath's population-weighted mean of FEMA county risk scores is 92.2 out of 100 (very high county-score mean). This is not an official FEMA metro rating or a national metro percentile. The highest county-score means by hazard are heat wave, earthquake, hail.
Compare St. Louis with other cities
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Cities with similar prices
- Savannah, GA 95.2
- Ocala, FL 95.2
- Cincinnati, OH 95.4
- San Antonio, TX 94.7
- Pittsburgh, PA 94.7
- Daphne, AL 94.7
- Moving from Missouri
State-agency links identify the responsible tax office; they do not verify every modeled rule. Use forms and guidance for the year you are filing. Local-tax references retain their own publication or filing years. Some documents cover an earlier filing year; a source link is not a claim that every rule has just been rechecked.