More and more people would prefer to live in the cities and towns that surround St. Louis to avoid all the hustle and bustle.
So the question arises: what suburbs of St. Louis are the worst?
Today, we’ll use Saturday Night Science to determine which St. Louis ‘burbs need a little tender loving care – the sore thumbs of the St. Louis area if you will. Realistically, you can only expect some of the suburbs to live up to St. Louis proper, although Glendale certainly tries.
We examined the 94 biggest suburbs of St. Louis to find out the worst places to live. And while you won’t necessarily find them on the worst places to live in Missouri lists, these ten places are a little too far downwind of St. Louis in terms of quality of life.
Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table
The 10 worst suburbs around St. Louis for 2026
- East St. Louis
- Madison
- Pine Lawn
- Berkeley
- Pagedale
- Jennings
- Normandy
- Bel-Ridge
- Breckenridge Hills
- South Roxana
Now don’t freak out.
What’s the worst suburb of St. Louis? East St. Louis ranks as the worst suburb of St. Louis for 2026 based on the most recent Census and FBI data.
Or, if you’re thinking of moving to elsewhere in Missouri check out the best places in Missouri overall or the worst.
And remember, there are some good places to live around St. Louis too.
The 10 Worst St. Louis Suburbs To Live For 2026

/10
Population: 17,999
Median Income: $35,700 (4th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 17.3% (highest)
Median Home Value: $39,296 (lowest)
More on East St. Louis: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers
We’ll get the ball rolling with East St. Louis, the absolute worst place to live around St. Louis according to the data.
And in the world of worst rankings, East St. Louis beat the competition pretty handily thanks to scoring in the bottom 15% in three major categories. Income is the 4th worst in the St. Louis area, and to make matters worse, the city ranks worst when it comes to home values.
But hey, at least it’s cheap to live there. But there’s a reason for that… it’s East St. Louis.
You won’t feel bad about not having a great income for the area. There aren’t a bunch of places to spend your money anyway.
2. Madison

/10
Population: 2,900
Median Income: $49,326 (15th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 16.0% (2nd highest)
Median Home Value: $54,801 (2nd lowest)
More on Madison: Movers
Welcome to Madison. Home to KMart, Big Lots, and a lot of gas stations.
This city is 7.8 miles to St. Louis. Income levels here are the 15th lowest in the metro area, where families bring in about $49,326 a year, which only goes so far even on a shoestring budget.
But on the bright side, there are a lot of fast food joints in the area.
3. Pine Lawn
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Population: 2,716
Median Income: $24,837 (lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 11.3% (6th highest)
Median Home Value: $67,352 (3rd lowest)
More on Pine Lawn: Movers
Back up the highway we go for the third worst St. Louis suburb you can live in. You might have expected to see Pine Lawn on here. While the cost of living is low, your entertainment and work options are limited. And that’s an understatement.
In terms of numbers, it’s in the worst 15% for insurance, and the adult high school dropout rate is poor compared to other St. Louis suburbs.
But at least there are lovely parks to bring the kids during the day.

/10
Population: 8,123
Median Income: $44,265 (8th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 5.7% (28th highest)
Median Home Value: $97,156 (13th lowest)
More on Berkeley: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers
If you live in Berkeley, most likely you struggle to make ends meet every month. It ranks as the 8th lowest St. Louis suburb for median household incomes.
Not only that, but this is the 28th worst unemployed suburb you can live in if you choose to live near St. Louis. Remember, we looked at 94 cities for this study.
Berkeley is about 8.9 miles to downtown.
5. Pagedale

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Population: 2,531
Median Income: $31,250 (3rd lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 11.0% (8th highest)
Median Home Value: $74,647 (6th lowest)
More on Pagedale: Crime | Movers
Pagedale has the distinction of being a St. Louis suburb. Which means that’s about all it has going for it.
All snarkiness aside, Pagedale has the 6th lowest home values in the metro St. Louis area, where the median price is $74,647. The median income is $250,001.
Pagedale has an unemployment rate of 10.97% which ranks 8th worst.

/10
Population: 12,918
Median Income: $38,984 (6th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 8.9% (13th highest)
Median Home Value: $73,368 (4th lowest)
More on Jennings: Data | Cost Of Living | Movers
Jennings has 12,918 residents that probably know it’s a pretty crummy place to live when you look at the data. (Or, if you’ve ever been there, you don’t need to look at the data.)
Incomes are towards the bottom, and the poverty rate sits at 25.15969338869371%.

/10
Ah, Normandy. You rank as the 7th worst place to live around St. Louis.
It’s the place with the 4th most out of work residents in the St. Louis metro area (15.65%).
8. Bel-Ridge
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Population: 2,432
Median Income: $38,049 (5th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 15.9% (3rd highest)
Median Home Value: $77,465 (7th lowest)
More on Bel-Ridge: Movers
Bel-Ridge is a city about 7.0 miles from St. Louis, but St. Louis probably wishes it was further away. It ranks as the 8th worst burb for 2018.
You’d be hard-pressed to find a worse place to live. Bel-Ridge has the 13th most uninsured people, 5th worst incomes, and has the 3rd highest unemployment rate (15.94%) in the entire St. Louis metro area.
Homes only cost $77,465 for a reason. That’s cheap for St. Louis standards.
/10
If you absolutely have to live near St. Louis, then Breckenridge Hills might be a place for you to consider as it’s only the 9th worst St. Louis suburb.
About 10.24% of residents are out of work.
10. South Roxana

/10
Population: 2,181
Median Income: $60,214 (25th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 5.7% (27th highest)
Median Home Value: $96,305 (12th lowest)
More on South Roxana: Movers
Rounding out the ten worst St. Louis suburbs to call home is South Roxana.
Located 16.0 miles outside the city, South Roxanas is a real pit when you look at the data. Its residents have the 27th highest unemployment rate (5.71%), and poverty is far above the area average.
Methodology: Determining The Worst Suburbs Around St. Louis for 2026
To figure out how bad a St. Louis suburb is to live in, we used Saturday Night Science to identify the kinds of things people like and then decide what suburbs have the least amount of those things.
Using the most recent American Community Survey data from 2020-2024, this is the criteria we used:
- High unemployment rate
- Low median household incomes
- Low population density (no things to do)
- Low home values
- A lot of high school dropouts
- High poverty
- High rate of uninsured families
We defined a suburb as any town within 30 miles of St. Louis.
We also limited the analysis to places with over 2,000 people. This left us with a grand total of 94 suburbs to evaluate around St. Louis.
We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 94 in each category, where 1 was the “worst.”
Next, we averaged the rankings for each place to create a quality-of-life index.
And finally, we crowned the city with the worst quality of life index, the “Worst Suburb near St. Louis.” We’re looking at you, East St. Louis.
We updated this article for 2026, which reflects our eleventh time ranking the worst suburbs around St. Louis.
Summary: The areas around St. Louis where the dream is more of a nightmare for 2026
Well there you have it — the worst of the ‘burbs surrounding St. Louis with East St. Louis casting itself ahead of the pack.
The worst suburbs of St. Louis are .
As we mentioned earlier, the suburbs around St. Louis aren’t all bad. Glendale takes the cake as the best place to live around St. Louis.
- Glendale
- Des Peres
- Warson Woods
For more Missouri reading, check out:
- Best Places To Live In Missouri
- Cheapest Places To Live In Missouri
- Most Dangerous Cities in Missouri
- Best Places To Retire In Missouri
- Richest Cities In Missouri
- Safest Places In Missouri
- Worst Places To Live In Missouri
Detailed List Of The Worst St. Louis Suburbs
| Rank | City | Population | Median Income | Median Home Values |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | East St. Louis | 17,999 | $35,700 | $39,296 |
| 2 | Madison | 2,900 | $49,326 | $54,801 |
| 3 | Pine Lawn | 2,716 | $24,837 | $67,352 |
| 4 | Berkeley | 8,123 | $44,265 | $97,156 |
| 5 | Pagedale | 2,531 | $31,250 | $74,647 |
| 6 | Jennings | 12,918 | $38,984 | $73,368 |
| 7 | Normandy | 4,239 | $29,379 | $94,374 |
| 8 | Bel-Ridge | 2,432 | $38,049 | $77,465 |
| 9 | Breckenridge Hills | 4,402 | $40,958 | $121,359 |
| 10 | South Roxana | 2,181 | $60,214 | $96,305 |
| 11 | Vinita Park | 2,042 | $53,995 | $102,996 |
| 12 | Riverview | 2,731 | $48,482 | $74,541 |
| 13 | East Alton | 5,689 | $48,815 | $93,630 |
| 14 | Caseyville | 4,130 | $60,669 | $113,484 |
| 15 | Hanley Hills | 2,178 | $52,828 | $93,140 |
| 16 | Bellefontaine Neighbors | 10,498 | $49,170 | $102,414 |
| 17 | Hazelwood | 25,114 | $55,908 | $157,629 |
| 18 | Ferguson | 18,213 | $47,524 | $116,377 |
| 19 | Pontoon Beach | 6,025 | $62,861 | $187,320 |
| 20 | Woodson Terrace | 3,908 | $47,417 | $134,921 |
| 21 | Dupo | 3,879 | $61,644 | $120,484 |
| 22 | Alton | 25,279 | $54,568 | $103,096 |
| 23 | St. John | 6,527 | $53,755 | $137,115 |
| 24 | Overland | 15,695 | $61,773 | $150,450 |
| 25 | St. Ann | 12,811 | $52,323 | $157,309 |
| 26 | Byrnes Mill | 3,189 | $98,576 | $349,228 |
| 27 | Moline Acres | 2,843 | $55,132 | $100,726 |
| 28 | Bridgeton | 11,369 | $72,005 | $273,069 |
| 29 | Belleville | 41,370 | $63,535 | $156,535 |
| 30 | Collinsville | 24,031 | $67,612 | $192,078 |
| 31 | Wood River | 10,279 | $62,703 | $127,547 |
| 32 | Dellwood | 4,847 | $72,540 | $110,368 |
| 33 | Bethalto | 9,239 | $64,775 | $197,188 |
| 34 | Fairview Heights | 16,745 | $80,930 | $191,787 |
| 35 | Valley Park | 6,795 | $67,898 | $295,375 |
| 36 | Florissant | 51,773 | $65,318 | $191,523 |
| 37 | Pacific | 7,475 | $62,860 | $245,537 |
| 38 | Northwoods | 3,623 | $45,330 | $88,332 |
| 39 | Arnold | 20,956 | $78,370 | $273,572 |
| 40 | Pevely | 6,055 | $56,000 | $273,663 |
| 41 | New Baden | 3,463 | $81,393 | $218,977 |
| 42 | Mascoutah | 8,816 | $97,375 | $264,428 |
| 43 | Godfrey | 17,712 | $94,543 | $214,595 |
| 44 | Brighton | 2,306 | $80,214 | $211,907 |
| 45 | Freeburg | 4,592 | $92,065 | $269,826 |
| 46 | Lebanon | 4,474 | $88,750 | $166,284 |
| 47 | Edwardsville | 26,474 | $86,721 | $324,629 |
| 48 | Black Jack | 6,589 | $78,331 | $217,915 |
| 49 | Green Park | 2,690 | $79,141 | $256,230 |
| 50 | Swansea | 14,710 | $91,587 | $263,376 |
| 51 | Herculaneum | 5,071 | $93,438 | $299,330 |
| 52 | Maryland Heights | 27,880 | $86,436 | $258,828 |
| 53 | Millstadt | 4,008 | $90,901 | $295,416 |
| 54 | Shiloh | 14,572 | $99,573 | $313,003 |
| 55 | Maplewood | 8,156 | $65,125 | $267,091 |
| 56 | St. Charles | 71,508 | $85,937 | $344,642 |
| 57 | Maryville | 8,316 | $100,670 | $325,041 |
| 58 | Eureka | 13,081 | $108,394 | $403,523 |
| 59 | Fenton | 4,088 | $101,000 | $350,647 |
| 60 | Glen Carbon | 13,977 | $97,168 | $331,014 |
| 61 | Marlborough | 2,157 | $50,300 | $236,122 |
| 62 | Manchester | 18,160 | $97,801 | $374,848 |
| 63 | O’fallon | 32,262 | $105,982 | $308,470 |
| 64 | Shrewsbury | 6,316 | $80,757 | $285,843 |
| 65 | St. Peters | 59,092 | $91,637 | $318,220 |
| 66 | Waterloo | 11,129 | $98,711 | $327,507 |
| 67 | Ellisville | 10,002 | $113,309 | $403,570 |
| 68 | O’fallon | 93,801 | $110,443 | $376,395 |
| 69 | Rock Hill | 4,693 | $95,372 | $302,429 |
| 70 | Sunset Hills | 9,112 | $138,144 | $610,688 |
| 71 | Troy | 11,647 | $112,434 | $324,854 |
| 72 | Smithton | 3,680 | $135,455 | $306,316 |
| 73 | Columbia | 11,127 | $107,606 | $342,741 |
| 74 | Creve Coeur | 18,643 | $127,188 | $614,771 |
| 75 | Wildwood | 35,133 | $161,060 | $576,009 |
| 76 | Ballwin | 31,279 | $124,626 | $412,224 |
| 77 | Clayton | 17,380 | $123,000 | $871,222 |
| 78 | Chesterfield | 49,574 | $133,037 | $570,324 |
| 79 | Weldon Spring | 5,310 | $158,548 | $629,190 |
| 80 | Frontenac | 3,701 | $233,425 | $1,251,597 |
| 81 | Richmond Heights | 9,153 | $94,460 | $390,829 |
| 82 | Olivette | 8,645 | $111,660 | $488,323 |
| 83 | Cottleville | 5,937 | $131,310 | $491,928 |
| 84 | Brentwood | 8,144 | $99,719 | $265,327 |
| 85 | Kirkwood | 29,363 | $121,270 | $462,234 |
| 86 | Town And Country | 11,607 | $232,534 | $1,146,741 |
| 87 | Crestwood | 12,295 | $107,169 | $339,628 |
| 88 | Webster Groves | 23,712 | $115,227 | $438,954 |
| 89 | Clarkson Valley | 2,584 | $247,000 | $913,371 |
| 90 | Dardenne Prairie | 13,503 | $152,500 | $469,902 |
| 91 | Ladue | 8,940 | $250,001 | $1,331,344 |
| 92 | Warson Woods | 2,393 | $206,979 | $673,847 |
| 93 | Des Peres | 9,170 | $224,327 | $693,376 |
| 94 | Glendale | 6,114 | $170,700 | $565,844 |