The 10 Best Places To Live In Missouri For 2026

The 10 Best Places To Live In Missouri For 2026

More on Glendale: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers

The results are in and for the second year in a row, Glendale is Missouri’s best city. A small suburb of St. Louis, Glendale’s motto is “residents’ welfare above all else,” which gets to the heart of what the city is all about. The crime rate in Glendale is about 75% lower than the national average and ranks as the 4th lowest in Missouri. And if you do get banged up somehow, medical bills shouldn’t sink you because 99.8% of residents have health coverage.

Poverty and unemployment rates are both extremely low in Glendale, sitting at 2.0% and 0.3% respectively, both of which rank in the top ten statewide. Of course, it’s much easier to find good employment when you’ve got a solid education, which plays out in the super-smart Glendale. About three-quarters of residents have a college degree, with a whopping 40% having a master’s degree or higher as well. Big degrees lead to big paychecks because Glendale’s residents enjoy the 5th highest median household income in Missouri at $170,700/year. These big salaries are kind of a necessity when you consider that the cost of living in Glendale is about 30% higher than the statewide average. Housing costs alone are more than twice as expensive as your average city in Missouri, with homes going for around $565,844 and rent for roughly $1,107/month. 95% of Glendale buys instead of rents and with home prices increasing by about 5% annually, it does seem like a smart investment.

While Glendale doesn’t have much in the way of entertainment on its own, its close proximity to St. Louis means you can be at nationally famous landmarks like the Gateway Arch in no time flat.

More on Ladue: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers

If you do you in Ladue, you’ll be la-doing just fine. This affluent inner-ring suburb of St. Louis has a whole lot going for it. We’ll start with the affluent part; Ladue is the richest place in Missouri, with residents bringing home around $250,001/year on average, the highest median household income in Missouri. Being hyper-wealthy helps offset a cost of living that outstrips the statewide average by 90%, with housing costs more than 325% higher than Missouri’s average. Since having a good job or lots of money pretty much guarantees you’ll have health insurance, it makes sense that Ladue has the 2nd highest rate of coverage in Missouri at 99.3%.

Rest assured that the taxes on all this cash go worthwhile projects. Like keeping Tilles Park a top-quality community space, especially during the Christmas season when it becomes a Winter Wonderland. Ladue also spends about 60% more per student than the statewide average, and that investment pays off in higher test scores and graduation rates, as well as three local schools winning a National Blue Ribbon Award for excellence. The investment in the city’s future comes from a community that has first-hand experience with the importance of education. After all, 80% of adults in Ladue finished college and 45% of folks have a master’s, PhD, or professional degree to boot.

Don’t worry about finding a job in Ladue either; at 1.7%, Ladue has the 11th lowest unemployment rate in Missouri. And very few are left in the dust of Ladue’s money-storm, considering that the poverty rate of 1.1% is the 2nd lowest in the state.

More on Des Peres: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers

Des Peres is another great place to live in Missouri about 20 miles west of St. Louis off 270. It’s a family friendly town with easy commutes to the city and surrounding major suburbs. The Des Peres Park is gorgeous, with a big duck pond, and several sports fields. And, I can tell you from personal experience, Bello’s Bakery & Pastries has some of the best donuts in the area. There’s also plenty of shopping around as the West County Mall is located in town.

Housing is 4th highest in the state, which means that a ton of people want to live here. And you can see that people are willing to pay for a piece of real estate as incomes are 3rd highest in the state too. Des Peres is part of the Kirkwood school system, which consistently ranks in the top five for Missouri. Add to that a low crime rate, and you have a perennial contender for best place to live in Missouri.

More on Webster Groves: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers

Webster Groves is an inner-ring suburb of St. Louis with a population of 23,712. Old homes and an eclectic mix of architectural styles imbue this leafy enclave with a relaxed atmosphere. Home to Webster University and the the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Webster Groves has plenty going on without the need to make the 15 minute trek to downtown St. Louis. It’s one of the reasons that HomeSnacks and Family Circle Magazine have included Webster Groves on compilations of the best cities for families in Missouri. Of course, having a superb educational system that spends more per student and consistently scores higher on tests and graduation rates than the statewide average also helps.

Nearly a third of residents have a master’s degree or higher, which helps residents achieve their status as the 17th best-paid populace in the state, with a median household income of $115,227/year. Educated folks with plenty of cash on hand don’t have much reason to go around committing felonies, so Webster Groves’ crime rate being about 70% lower than the national average and ranking as the 15th lowest in Missouri also makes sense. As a bonus, 97.9% of Webster Groves residents have health insurance, making unwelcome medical surprises a little less scary here.

More on Olivette: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers

I am a little biased considering I live in Olivette, but I feel like it deserves its spot as the 5th best place to live in the Show Me State. After moving here in 2019 and having lived here through the Covid years, I can tell it’s the kind of place you put down roots for a long time.

As a suburb of St. Louis, you have access to everything in the city without having to be in the city. There’s no traffic and you can get downtown in under 20 minutes to catch a Cardinals game or visit the Arch. In town, there are great parks for kids including Stacey Park (my favorite), Villa Park, and Warson Park. There’s also great Asian food on Olive less than 10 minutes away and Melinda at the Olivette Diner will make you feel like family.

On the numbers side of things, Olivette is part of the Ladue School District, the best in the state, but without Ladue home prices. There’s basically no crime in town and the city ranks 20th for incomes.

More on Clayton: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers

Clayton is a St. Louis suburb of 17,380 with an air of sophistication. High quality, locally-owned restaurants, bars, and cafes are found tucked between boutique shops, historic homes, and the gorgeous Shaw Park. Clayton hosts the St. Louis Art Fair and A Taste of Clayton, a festival of arts, music, and food, each year, so come ready to celebrate if you’re moving to Clayton. Like other top cities on this list, the cost of living in Clayton is nothing to sneeze at, but we think having clean, safe streets filled with wholesome activities is worth every penny.

With a median age of 30, Clayton is the youngest city to make this list. That combined with the title of most densely populated city in Missouri means that Clayton is probably the most vibrant and dynamic place to be in the whole state. If you decide to buy a home in Clayton, it will set you back about $871,222. However, as a very young city, about 40% of the population chooses to rent instead and a typical rental price is $1,692/month, not much higher than the average rent in Missouri.

Last but not least, Clayton takes education about as seriously as you can. Clayton School District outspends your average Missouri city by 170% per student, has a very low student-teacher ratio of 11:1, a GreatSchools average rating of 8/10, three elementary schools with National Blue Ribbon Awards, and a high school that’s won a College Success Award for two years running. There’s really nowhere better to send your children to school in Missouri than Clayton.

More on Dardenne Prairie: Data | Cost Of Living | Movers

Dardenne Prairie makes a special appearance in the best places to live in Missouri for 2026 coming in at number 7. This is one of the few times I remember ever seeing Dardenne Prairie on a list, so this is big news for the town of 13,503 people.

When you dig into the data it’s easy to see why this suburb of St. Louis is a great place to call home. Located on the otherside of the Missouri River from St. Louis, it boasts above average schools, very desiarable real estate, and crime low enough that you’ll feel safe leaving your doors unlocked when you run to the super market.

There are plenty of parks in town to bring the kids on a Saturday and St. Louis is an easy thirty minute or so drive away. And we bet you’ll make friends with your neighbors, which means that a good time is just a house away.

More on Cottleville: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers

Cottleville is one of those towns named after a guy nobody’s heard of (Captain Lorenzo Cottle, 1839) and now half of Lindenwood University spills into it on weekends. Welcome to the 8th best place to live in Missouri for 2026, on the back of the lowest crime in this top ten, very low unemployment (2.3%), and poverty of just 2.0%. Only 5,937 people live here pulling a median household income of $131,310, in homes valued around $491,928. Take a stroll down Main Street into Legacy Park on a Saturday. Best small Missouri town on this list, hands down.

More on Crestwood: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers

Crestwood is the 9th best place to live in Missouri for 2026, an inner-ring St. Louis suburb you wouldn’t think to brag about until you start running the numbers. Homes go for $339,628, wildly affordable for the company Crestwood is keeping, arguably the best place to buy a home in Missouri if your budget actually needs to clear. Median household income runs $107,169 (24th highest in the state), unemployment 1.6%.

If you’ve cruised historic Watson Road, you’ve passed the oldest McDonald’s in St. Louis, the one where a young Eddie Van Halen and David Lee Roth posed under the arches in 1977. Not too shabby for one of the best of Missouri.

More on Town And Country: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers

Town and Country is an affluent city of 11,607 located in western St. Louis County. Town and Country’s high median age of 48 reflects how awesome a place it is for retirement. A quiet, green residential landscape doesn’t offer much in the way of hustle and bustle, but Town and Country maintains all the essentials for a good life. It’s one of the safest places in Missouri, with a total crime rate about half as high as the national average. Residents are well looked after in other ways, seeing as 98.7% of folks have health insurance, the 5th highest rate in Missouri.

Nearly 40% of Town and Country’s adult population has a master’s degree or higher, so you won’t be dealing with dummies here. And everyone takes education pretty seriously, seeing as Town and Country has the 27th lowest high school dropout rate in Missouri. If you need some brushing up on your scientific prowess, the Myseum is a great place to start. This heavy focus on education has translated into the 2nd highest median household income in the state, so make sure you’re earning about $232,534/year if you want to keep up with the Joneses here. Without that, you won’t be able to afford the 2nd most expensive homes in Missouri, which go for a median price of $1,146,741. Even better than the big paychecks and the beautiful homes is the fact that both income and property values are growing at a rate of about 5% annually, so things seem to just keep getting better in Town and Country.

Methodology: How We Calculated The Best Cities To Live In Missouri

Now that we had our set of the best possible cities, it was time to rank them using Saturday Night Science.

We ranked each place in Missouri across a number of criteria from one to 126, with one being the best.

We then took the average rank across all criteria, crowning the city posting the lowest overall score, the “Best Place To Live In Missouri.”

The criteria we looked to determine the best places were:

• Median Home Values
• Median Income
• Population Density (Higher is better)
• Unemployment Rate
• Commute Time
• Crime
• Education Levels
• Health Insurance Coverage
• Poverty rates

Sources of criteria include the New Census Data, FBI Crime Data, and Zillow. We updated this article for 2026. This report is our eleventh time ranking Missouri’s best places to live.

If your city or town isn’t among the top 10, jump down to the bottom of the post to see a detailed chart of the best places in Missouri. Otherwise, buckle up for a ride down good living lane with Glendale at the end of the cul-de-sac.

Best Places To Live In Missouri Table