These Are The 10 Best Cities For Hippies In Missouri


We used science and data to determine which Missouri cities probably wear tie dye the most.

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You might think that the whole hippie movement has faded away, but the truth is, there are plenty of hippies out there in Missouri.

While they aren’t necessarily in your face all the time with war protests and the next Woodstock isn’t being planned any time soon, we thought it would be fun to look at which cities in the Show Me State where the most hippies would live.

And, after crunching the data, you know what? It was pretty spot on, we have to say.

How do you decide where the most hippies live? By the number of yoga studios, organic markets, and most importantly, where the liberals live in droves.

Using that criteria, it’s not hard to scrape the internet, run some scientific data on where hippies might live in Missouri, and then put out a list.

So, put on your tie dye shirt and your sandals as you go through this list with us.

After analyzing all cities with a decent amount of people in them, we came up with this list of the 10 best cities for hippies in Missouri:

  1. Shrewsbury
  2. Maplewood (Photos)
  3. Richmond Heights
  4. Glendale
  5. Brentwood
  6. Olivette
  7. Ladue
  8. Des Peres
  9. Crestwood (Photos)
  10. Clayton (Photos)

Read on below to see where your town ranked, young flower child.

And if you already knew these places were hippie heavens, check out the best places to live in Missouri or the safest places to live in Missouri.

How do you determine the most beatnik city in Missouri?

In order to rank the best cities for hippies in Missouri, we had to determine what criteria defines a hippie.

We threw a lot of criteria at this one in order to get the best, most complete results possible. Using the Google Places API, the Census’s 2010-2014 American Community Survey, and Voter Registration data, this is the criteria we used:

  • Number of yoga studios per capita
  • Number of organic markets per capita
  • Number of pet adoption centers per capita
  • Number of vegan restaurants per capita
  • Number of thrift stores per capita
  • Each city’s liberal voting population

Note: For the sake of getting reliable numbers, we counted places within a ~4.5 mile radius of a city’s center. The average city in America is about 18 square miles.

All of these results are listed in a per capita basis, meaning number of stores per person in a city. Additionally, we limited the analysis to non-CDPs that have over 5,000 people.

We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 126 in each category, where 1 was the most hippie.

Next, we averaged the rankings for each place to create a hippie index.

And finally, we crowned the city with the highest hippie index the ‘Best City for Hippies In Missouri.’ We’re lookin’ at you, Shrewsbury.

Read on below to learn more about what it’s like to live in hippie central. Or skip to the end to see the list of all the places in the state from hippiest to most square.

1. Shrewsbury



Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 5.31
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 1.93
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 1.77
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 1.29
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 6.59
Shrewsbury is an inner-ring suburb of St. Louis, located in St. Louis County, Missouri. The population was 6,254 at the 2010 census.

2. Maplewood

Maplewood, Missouri

Source: Wikipedia

Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 4.38
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 1.5
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 1.38
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 1.88
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 4.63
Maplewood is an inner-ring suburb of St. Louis, located in St. Louis County. The population was 8,046 at the 2010 census.

3. Richmond Heights



Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 3.99
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 1.52
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 1.29
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 1.29
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 4.11

4. Glendale



Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 4.89
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 1.35
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 1.01
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 1.18
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 5.57
Glendale is a city in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. The population was 5,925 at the 2010 census.

5. Brentwood

Brentwood, Missouri

Source: Wikipedia

Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 4.1
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 1.24
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 1.37
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 1.12
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 4.1
Brentwood is an inner-ring suburb of St. Louis, located in St. Louis County, Missouri. The population was 8,055 at the 2010 census. Brentwood is home to Brentwood High School, a 2006 National Blue Ribbon Award winner, and Mark Twain Elementary School, a 2009 National Blue Ribbon Award winner.

6. Olivette



Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 2.18
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 0.9
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 0.77
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 1.15
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 3.59
Olivette is an inner-ring suburb of St. Louis, located in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. The population was 7,737 at the 2010 census.

7. Ladue

Ladue, Missouri

Source: Wikipedia

Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 3.51
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 0.94
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 0.58
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 0.94
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 3.51
Ladue is an inner-ring suburb of St. Louis, located in central St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. As of the 2013 census, the city had a population of 8,560.

8. Des Peres



Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 1.78
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 0.59
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 0.83
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 0.95
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 2.84
Des Peres (English: /dipr/) is a city in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. The population was 8,373 at the 2010 census.

9. Crestwood

Crestwood, Missouri

Source: Wikipedia

Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 1.76
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 0.42
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 0.84
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 0.84
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 2.68

10. Clayton

Clayton, Missouri

Source: Wikipedia

Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 1.95
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 0.63
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 0.57
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 0.69
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 2.77

There You Have It — The Hippies Of Missouri

If you’re measuring the locations in Missouri where there are lots of liberals, and there are many options for vegan food, yoga and thrift stores, this is an accurate list.

If you’re curious, here are the most square places in Missouri:

  1. Macon
  2. Perryville
  3. Pleasant Hill

For more Missouri reading , check out:

Detailed List Of The Hippiest Cities In Missouri

City Rank Population
Shrewsbury 1 6,217
Maplewood 2 7,987
Richmond Heights 3 8,526
Glendale 4 5,926
Brentwood 5 8,048
Olivette 6 7,809
Ladue 7 8,549
Des Peres 8 8,443
Crestwood 9 11,934
Clayton 10 15,912
St. John 11 6,486
Sunset Hills 12 8,523
Valley Park 13 6,980
Dellwood 14 5,010
Town And Country 15 10,890
Ellisville 16 9,162
Berkeley 17 9,120
Webster Groves 18 23,084
Black Jack 19 6,924
Weldon Spring 20 5,496
Overland 21 16,043
Parkville 22 5,811
Bridgeton 23 11,654
Creve Coeur 24 17,841
St. Ann 25 12,988
Kirkwood 26 27,587
Manchester 27 18,125
Dardenne Prairie 28 12,116
Battlefield 29 5,759
Bellefontaine Neighbors 30 10,823
Ferguson 31 21,151
Grain Valley 32 13,037
Branson 33 10,942
Ballwin 34 30,478
Jennings 35 14,730
Maryland Heights 36 27,420
Waynesville 37 5,147
Lake St. Louis 38 14,759
Greenwood 39 5,322
Park Hills 40 8,714
Arnold 41 21,020
Festus 42 11,740
Kearney 43 8,845
Grandview 44 24,860
Oak Grove 45 7,747
Raytown 46 29,520
Warrenton 47 7,974
Gladstone 48 26,032
Chesterfield 49 47,651
Carl Junction 50 7,511
Nevada 51 8,318
Pacific 52 6,047
Liberty 53 29,806
Richmond 54 5,702
Eureka 55 10,375
Rolla 56 19,808
Sullivan 57 7,058
West Plains 58 12,176
Florissant 59 52,353
Raymore 60 19,576
Blue Springs 61 53,053
Wentzville 62 31,591
St. Peters 63 54,236
Farmington 64 17,213
Boonville 65 8,320
Pevely 66 5,566
St. Louis 67 318,727
Independence 68 117,160
Lee’S Summit 69 92,813
Excelsior Springs 70 11,391
Washington 71 13,982
Belton 72 23,197
St. Charles 73 66,900
O’Fallon 74 81,978
Hazelwood 75 25,671
Harrisonville 76 10,019
Springfield 77 162,333
Bolivar 78 10,443
Wildwood 79 35,701
Warrensburg 80 19,548
Fulton 81 12,791
Columbia 82 113,155
Savannah 83 5,101
Aurora 84 7,475
Chillicothe 85 8,528
Bonne Terre 86 7,025
Poplar Bluff 87 17,190
Lebanon 88 14,595
Clinton 89 9,014
De Soto 90 6,449
St. Joseph 91 77,040
Union 92 10,517
Joplin 93 50,900
Odessa 94 5,237
Monett 95 8,935
Cape Girardeau 96 38,665
Carthage 97 14,281
Republic 98 15,222
Maryville 99 12,018
Sedalia 100 21,429
Trenton 101 6,058
Jackson 102 14,221
Kirksville 103 17,578
Ozark 104 18,369
Moberly 105 13,898
Willard 106 5,395
Cameron 107 10,008
Caruthersville 108 6,086
Troy 109 11,015
Sikeston 110 16,642
Dexter 111 7,902
Nixa 112 19,821
Mexico 113 11,555
Oak Grove 114 7,747
Union 115 10,517
Marshfield 116 6,789
Kennett 117 11,002
Hannibal 118 17,779
Neosho 119 12,038
Marshall 120 13,059
Charleston 121 5,905
Bowling Green 122 5,452
Smithville 123 8,791
Pleasant Hill 124 8,173
Perryville 125 8,280
Macon 126 5,476
About Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.