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2020 Safe Places to Live in the St. Louis AreaAbout this List

Explore the safest places in the U.S. based on crime rates for murder, assault, rape, burglary, and other crime statistics. Ranking based on Niche's 2020 Best Places to Live Ranking and includes only places that earned strong Crime & Safety grades. Read more on how this ranking was calculated.

Area type classifications are based on populations and proximity to major city centers.

City

City Neighborhood

Suburbs

Towns

Public Schools Grade

Based on data including state test scores, college readiness, graduation rates, SAT/ACT scores, teacher quality, as well as reviews from students and parents.

A

B

C

D

Based on cost of living factors for an area including housing costs, tax rates, and cost of essentials like food and fuel.

$

$$

$$$

$$$$

Who Lives Here

Families

Young Professionals

Retirees

Walkability

Don't Care

Care

Care A Lot

Crime & Safety Grade

Calculated based on crime rates for murder, assault, rape, burglary, and other crime statistics, as well as reviews from residents.

A

B

C

D

Homes In The Area

Single Family Homes

Large Apt. Buildings

Small Apt. Buildings

Townhomes

Homeownership

Most Own

Balanced

Most Rent

Based on 2012 and 2016 presidential election results compared to the national average.

Very Conservative

Conservative

Balanced

Liberal

Very Liberal

Things to do

Bars

Don't Care

Care

Care a Lot

Restaurants

Don't Care

Care

Care a Lot

Coffee Shops

Don't Care

Care

Care a Lot

Parks

Don't Care

Care

Care a Lot

1 – 25 of 53

Best Places to Live

Best for Families
Most Diverse
Best to Buy a House

53 results

Best Places to Live
Best for Families
Best Public Schools

Most Diverse
Best for Young Professionals
Best for Retirees

Economy

Cost of Living
Best to Buy a House

Health & Outdoors

Healthiest
Outdoor Activities

Clayton
Suburb of St. Louis, MO
24 reviews
#2 Best Places to Live in St. Louis Area
Nearby Resident: Beautiful suburb of St. Louis! Has a business district with shopping and restaurants, as well as very nice residential areas. Good place to live for students, young professionals, or families.
Read 24 Reviews
A+
Overall Niche Grade
A+
Public Schools
B-
Crime & Safety
16,588 Population
View Nearby Homes
Brentwood
Suburb of St. Louis, MO
23 reviews
#3 Best Places to Live in St. Louis Area
Current Resident: Strong Community in a great location with close proximity to downtown, excellent, small schools and family friendly. We love it here!
Read 23 Reviews
A+
Overall Niche Grade
A+
Public Schools
B-
Crime & Safety
8,005 Population
View Nearby Homes
Creve Coeur
Suburb of St. Louis, MO
47 reviews
#4 Best Places to Live in St. Louis Area
Current Resident: I enjoy living in Creve Coeur. We are in a great neighborhood with great neighbors. Creve Coeur Lake is not far, and is such a great place to walk and be outdoors. Another great thing about the area is the affordability. For being such a great area, you can get a lot of house for your money. The two things I dislike about the area are how long it takes to get to the highway and also the amount of chain restaurants and stores here. I wish their were more local, small businesses around here but most of those are closer to the city.
Read 47 Reviews
A+
Overall Niche Grade
A+
Public Schools
B-
Crime & Safety
18,538 Population
View Nearby Homes
Chesterfield
Suburb of St. Louis, MO
131 reviews
#5 Best Places to Live in St. Louis Area
Current Resident: Chesterfield is a very nice neighborhood! The people around here are friendly and it's a great place to raise a family. The neighboring schools are an amazing place to get a quality education. You're close enough to the city of St. Louis but in a quiet enough area. There's beautiful wildlife around here as well, such as deer, cardinals, and even hawks. It's a perfect place to settle and start roots.
Read 131 Reviews
A+
Overall Niche Grade
A+
Public Schools
B
Crime & Safety
47,605 Population
View Nearby Homes
Glendale
Suburb of St. Louis, MO
8 reviews
#6 Best Places to Live in St. Louis Area
Current Resident: Glendale is a small, family-friendly community that is a part of Webster and (majority) Kirkwood schools. Many of the small older homes are getting knocked down to build huge $700k+ four bedroom, three bath homes on these small lots. The community is great, especially if you have kids, but everyone who lives on my street looks the same as me, yet the schools try to push diversity by bussing in kids from the city, while in the long run Kirkwood really should be pushing and helping black and brown families move to the area.
Read 8 Reviews
A+
Overall Niche Grade
A+
Public Schools
A-
Crime & Safety
5,891 Population
View Nearby Homes
Rock Hill
Suburb of St. Louis, MO
8 reviews
#8 Best Places to Live in St. Louis Area
Current Resident: We moved to this area in 2019 (closer to Tilles Park area), after not being able to find a good home for us in my other preferred areas( Webster Grove, Brentwood, and Kirkwood). Couldn't be any happier in this rare small gem, amazing key location, and amenities, A schools and safety, and last but not least, amazingly friendly and welcoming neighborhood. Thank you Rock Hill, I am very happy to be part of this community, and I highly recommend it!
Read 8 Reviews
A+
Overall Niche Grade
A+
Public Schools
B-
Crime & Safety
4,634 Population
View Nearby Homes
Olivette
Suburb of St. Louis, MO
19 reviews
#9 Best Places to Live in St. Louis Area
Current Resident: Overall, the location of Olivette is pretty good. It is within a 15 minute drive to other counties such as Ladue, Creve Coeur, Brentwood, and Clayton. Stacey Park is a great park for families and friends to go for a walk or an afternoon on the playground.
Read 19 Reviews
A+
Overall Niche Grade
A+
Public Schools
B-
Crime & Safety
7,849 Population
View Nearby Homes
Ballwin
Suburb of St. Louis, MO
98 reviews
#10 Best Places to Live in St. Louis Area
Current Resident: Very safe area with lots of schools and businesses near by! Would be cool to have more small businesses with cultural aspects, versus the current standard of chains and fast food stops.
Read 98 Reviews
A+
Overall Niche Grade
A+
Public Schools
B+
Crime & Safety
30,252 Population
View Nearby Homes
Warson Woods
Suburb of St. Louis, MO
#13 Best Places to Live in St. Louis Area
A+
Overall Niche Grade
A+
Public Schools
A
Crime & Safety
2,046 Population
View Nearby Homes
Town and Country
Suburb of St. Louis, MO
14 reviews
#14 Best Places to Live in St. Louis Area
Current Resident: We have lived in Town and Country for close to 12 years. We love the feel of being removed from the hustle and bustle, but in reality on a few minutes away. Location is wonderful for reaching other parts of Saint Louis.
The schools have been good for our children.
There is a push for walking trails throughout the town and an encouragement for outdoor exercising. We have wonderful county parks just a few minutes away.
You are bound to run into people you know whenever you are out and about and even though it is a big city, there is a small town feel.
Read 14 Reviews
A+
Overall Niche Grade
A+
Public Schools
B
Crime & Safety
11,077 Population
View Nearby Homes
Manchester
Suburb of St. Louis, MO
40 reviews
#15 Best Places to Live in St. Louis Area
Current Resident: I love Manchester! It has everything you could need - great stores, restaurants and amazing parks! Manchester is definitely family friendly and is a great place to live.
Read 40 Reviews
A+
Overall Niche Grade
A+
Public Schools
B
Crime & Safety
18,110 Population
View Nearby Homes
Des Peres
Suburb of St. Louis, MO
8 reviews
#16 Best Places to Live in St. Louis Area
Current Resident: A lot to do around town. Good amount of traffic on a normal basis. Movie theater, big shopping mall, 2 massive grocery stores.
Read 8 Reviews
A+
Overall Niche Grade
A+
Public Schools
B-
Crime & Safety
8,619 Population
View Nearby Homes
Ladue
Suburb of St. Louis, MO
12 reviews
#17 Best Places to Live in St. Louis Area
Current Resident: Ladue is a beautiful place to live. It seems like a forest in the middle of St. Louis. I often have deer and owls lounging in my backyard— even though I’m 5 minutes from Clayton and 15 minutes from downtown. Ladue High School is (in my biased opinion) the best public school in St. Louis. The area is safe, quiet at night, and surrounded by many things to do (such as Forest Park, downtown Saint Louis, midtown, WASHU campus, downtown Clayton, and much more) I moved to Ladue from another suburb in Saint Louis, and I could not be more happy with where I live!
Read 12 Reviews
A+
Overall Niche Grade
A+
Public Schools
B-
Crime & Safety
8,601 Population
View Nearby Homes
Crestwood
Suburb of St. Louis, MO
16 reviews
#18 Best Places to Live in St. Louis Area
Current Resident: Crestwood is a great part of St. Louis. School district is great. The area is safe. Suburban area but close enough to highways 270 and 44 that getting around St. Louis is convenient. Watson road is basically the centerpiece of the Crestwood area. Where Watson ends at the highway on ramps is where Crestwood ends, A few miles in the other direction and you're headed towards St. Louis City. Grant's Farm is a great local attraction that is free to enter, parking however is not free. Crestwood bowling alley is a central part of entertainment in the area. Crestwood elementary is in the Lindbergh district, also nearby are Truman middle school, and Long elementary and Lindbergh Highschool. There are also private schools in the area such as St. John Vianney and Ursuline Academy. Adjacent areas to Crestwood are South County , Kirkwood, Concord, and Sunset Hills all nice areas as well. Also nearby is STLCC-Meramec, the main campus of the Saint Louis Community College.
Read 16 Reviews
A+
Overall Niche Grade
A+
Public Schools
B-
Crime & Safety
11,865 Population
View Nearby Homes
Cottleville
Suburb of St. Louis, MO
8 reviews
#23 Best Places to Live in St. Louis Area
Current Resident: Family friendly, golf cart community, nice parks and walking trails, nice downtown, growing, great schools.
Read 8 Reviews
A+
Overall Niche Grade
A+
Public Schools
A-
Crime & Safety
5,200 Population
View Nearby Homes
Oakland
Suburb of St. Louis, MO
2 reviews
#25 Best Places to Live in St. Louis Area
Parent: While the St. Louis area has suffered recently, the Kirkwood area continues to be a great "small town" feeling. However, lately it feels as though drug and crime issues are beginning to infiltrate the area in a way I haven't seen in the past. I wonder if that's just society today however, and not unique to my neighborhood.
Read 2 Reviews
A+
Overall Niche Grade
A+
Public Schools
B+
Crime & Safety
1,713 Population
View Nearby Homes
Frontenac
Suburb of St. Louis, MO
#26 Best Places to Live in St. Louis Area
A+
Overall Niche Grade
A+
Public Schools
B-
Crime & Safety
3,513 Population
View Nearby Homes
Ellisville
Suburb of St. Louis, MO
13 reviews
#29 Best Places to Live in St. Louis Area
Current Resident: One of the best places to settle down with a new family! Great schools are offered for all ages and the town is very family-friendly and safe.
Read 13 Reviews
A+
Overall Niche Grade
A+
Public Schools
B
Crime & Safety
9,661 Population
View Nearby Homes
Edwardsville
Suburb in Illinois
87 reviews
#31 Best Places to Live in St. Louis Area
Current Resident: I grew up in Edwardsville, and still live here, though I attend college elsewhere. In all honesty, I hated living here when I was younger. I didn't like that everyone was "white picket fences" and the "American Dream". If you have ever seen Veronica Mars, it's a lot like Neptune in that there is definitely an upper class and lower middle class divide (I was not the upper class). However, the schools are good, especially in comparison to others in the area, and the job market is thriving. It's close to St. Louis (could be good or bad), and the crime rate is low. The University is well rated, and the restaurants are plentiful. The cost of living is high, and the cost of gas is even higher, but its easy enough to get gas across the river. Overall, I've learned to appreciate it much more, after being away and seeing the neighborhoods my friends and peers grew up in.
Read 87 Reviews
A+
Overall Niche Grade
A
Public Schools
B
Crime & Safety
25,171 Population
View Nearby Homes
Glen Carbon
Suburb in Illinois
18 reviews
#32 Best Places to Live in St. Louis Area
Current Resident: I have lived in Glen Carbon my whole life. I have always felt safe and never wanted to move. It's a quiet place although there is a moderately large population. There are lots of places to shop, eat, or for entertainment so you will never be bored. There are lots of parks and trails so you can always see people out and about when it is nice out, which is often because here in the mid-west, we have all four seasons. The houses and neighborhoods are very nice overall, however of course there are very expensive and very run down houses as well. The only thing that I would change is the fact that Glen Carbon is rapidly growing and therefore is getting busier.
Read 18 Reviews
A+
Overall Niche Grade
A
Public Schools
B-
Crime & Safety
12,569 Population
View Nearby Homes
Eureka
Town in Missouri
23 reviews
#33 Best Places to Live in St. Louis Area
Current Resident: I liked that Eureka was such a small town and there is so much charm to it. Eureka was flooded out twice in the last three years and when that happened, the whole town came together to repair damages and set up walls to stop even more flooding from happening! The only problem with a small town is that everyone knows everyone and that can get a little claustrophobic.
Read 23 Reviews
A+
Overall Niche Grade
A+
Public Schools
B
Crime & Safety
10,666 Population
View Nearby Homes
Columbia
Suburb in Illinois
13 reviews
#34 Best Places to Live in St. Louis Area
Current Resident: Columbia is a very safe community with lots of caring and helpful people. It has a good school system and lots of places to work. Columbia is a quiet town that is right outside of St. Louis so it is very close to take a trip to the city. One thing I would like to see changed is that I wish there were more diversity in this town. I believe that it would enrich the culture of the town and make it an overall safer and happier place to live.
Read 13 Reviews
A
Overall Niche Grade
A-
Public Schools
A-
Crime & Safety
10,752 Population
View Nearby Homes
Hi-Pointe
Neighborhood in St. Louis, MO
5 reviews
#35 Best Places to Live in St. Louis Area
Current Resident: My wife and I love the neighborhood, our original set of neighbors were mixed 50 good 50 not bad but not good either, most of the "meh" neighbors have moved out and with each move a new young couple or person has moved in and done a lot of work on their house and property. This has added a friendlier group on our street and corner. Furthermore, in all directions, there is Forest Park to the North, Tamm bars, microbrews, and restaurants 1/2 mile to the East, McCausland Restaurants, grocery store, and 2 movie theaters within a mile to the west, and the Grove and Maplewood are not far away to the South.
Read 5 Reviews
A
Overall Niche Grade
C-
Public Schools
B
Crime & Safety
2,300 Population
View Nearby Homes
O'Fallon
Suburb of St. Louis, MO
236 reviews
#37 Best Places to Live in St. Louis Area
Former Resident: Awesome town...great people! Safe, Clean, and Fun! We have one of the top rated school districts in the state. We have our own Hometown Minor League Baseball team, the Rascals. We are located only 30 minutes from Downtown St. Louis, known as the best free town for family activities, #1 ranked zoo, museums, outdoor theatres, one hour to SIx Flags adventure Park, and parks galore! O'fallon is small town living with in reach of the City life too!
Read 236 Reviews
A
Overall Niche Grade
A
Public Schools
B-
Crime & Safety
87,242 Population
View Nearby Homes
St. Peters
Suburb of St. Louis, MO
124 reviews
#41 Best Places to Live in St. Louis Area
Current Resident: I like that the community is almost always 20 minutes from anywhere. You are also never far away from entertainment. It's only a small drive from Saint Louis and many other recreational destinations can be found within the area. A personal favorite includes the Saint Peters Rec-Plex where many of my high school friends unitized the space to expand their athletic abilities and enjoy each others company, within a safe community.
Read 124 Reviews
A
Overall Niche Grade
A
Public Schools
B-
Crime & Safety
57,273 Population
View Nearby Homes
Sponsored
Foxcroft School
Private School
Middleburg, VA
9-12
53 reviews
Senior: I have felt super conformable and accepted at Foxcroft. The teachers I have had are amazing and truly care about their students academically and personally. I feel that I have been well prepared for college! The culture at the school is also excellent. There are so many fun activities that you are able to participate in whether it is off campus activities, sports, a wide variety of clubs, or another extra curricular. There is something for everyone.
Read 53 Reviews
A+
Overall Niche Grade
167 Students
8:1 Student-Teacher Ratio
View Nearby Homes
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Barnesville School of Arts & Sciences
Private School
Barnesville, MD
PK, K-8
10 reviews
Parent: As a teacher who has taught 12 years in a public school setting, I would have never imagined choosing private school for my sons. After a tough year in kindergarten, my oldest son struggled and didn’t show much academic progress due to large class size. After much thought, I realized that a smaller class size is what he needed to cultivate the best learning environment.

After researching all the available private schools here in Southern Frederick County, I was dismayed by the few options nearby. After thoughtful consideration, Barnesville fulfilled all of my expectations as a teacher parent. It provided small class sizes, a great amount of time spent outside, many cross-curricular learning opportunities, and a strong community. The teachers are extra caring and it was evident during our time distance learning. If you are looking for a school that offers meaningful relationships where your child is given many opportunities to grow and learn, Barnesville is for you!
Read 10 Reviews
A
Overall Niche Grade
136 Students
7:1 Student-Teacher Ratio
View Nearby Homes
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Falls Church City Public Schools
School District
Falls Church, VA
8 reviews
Alum: Excellent quality education and diverse environment. The school offers a variety academic, fine arts, sports programs, and health sciences academy. The teachers are great and they put a lot of effort into helping the students.
Read 8 Reviews
2,620 Students
14:1 Student-Teacher Ratio
View Nearby Homes
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About This List

Explore the safest places in the U.S. based on crime rates for murder, assault, rape, burglary, and other crime statistics. Ranking based on Niche's 2020 Best Places to Live Ranking and includes only places that earned strong Crime & Safety grades. Read more on how this ranking was calculated.

Where Niche Grades come from and how Niche calculates rankings.

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