Housing & affordability
18% of the score · 74/100
B
Median home value$451,400
St. Louis $244,800
Median rent$1,348/mo
St. Louis $1,113/mo
Cost-burdened households26%
St. Louis 26%
Kirkwood
St. Louis County29,363 residentsKirkwood R-Vii
76
B
Suburbgrade score
3rd of 60 St. Louis suburbs. Strong on schools and commute & transport, held back by cost of living.
76
St. Louis median 60
0 · F
A+ · 100
Launch-day rule. Residents is not counted for Kirkwood yet: no poll responses so far. The overall score of 76 is computed on the other six categories, re-normalised to 100%. Answer the poll →
What living here is actually like
Written summary in preparation This page is waiting for its written summary, and for a person to check it. Until then it is excluded from search engines.
What Kirkwood is like to live in, by category
Bars show Kirkwood against St. Louis. Weights are published in full.Schools
18% of the score · 90/100
A
Within-state proficiency98th pct
St. Louis median 68th pct
Student–teacher ratio14.8
St. Louis median 14.5
Graduation rate98%
St. Louis median 94%
Cost of living
14% of the score · 56/100
C−
Housing cost index139
St. Louis 100
Eff. tax rate1.02%
St. Louis 1.16%
Local sales tax8.44%
St. Louis median 8.44%
Commute & transport
14% of the score · 85/100
A−
Mean commute20.4 min
St. Louis 24.9 min
Under 30 minutes80%
St. Louis 65%
Transit stops / sq mi5.7
St. Louis median 1.4 · within 2 miles
Amenities
12% of the score · 76/100
B
Restaurants & cafés68
St. Louis median 32 · within 2 miles
Groceries9
St. Louis median 4 · within 2 miles
Parks42
St. Louis median 21 · within 2 miles
Employment & income
12% of the score · 73/100
B
Median household income$121,270
St. Louis $80,196
Unemployment3.1%
St. Louis 4.2%
Professional occupations64%
St. Louis 45%
Residents
12% of the score · inactive
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No responses yet. Residents is excluded from the score until eight people answer.
Ask the people who live here
Twelve yes/no questions, one tap each. No dataset knows whether the yards are kept or whether anyone talks to their neighbours. Answers feed the Residents grade, which needs eight responses before it counts.
Nobody has answered for Kirkwood yet. If you live here, you can be the first.
Is it quiet at night?
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Do you feel safe walking after dark?
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Can you walk to a grocery store?
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Is it good for young children?
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Are yards and streets well kept?
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Tap either button to answer — no account neededAll twelve questions →
Better than Kirkwood on cost of living
Kirkwood's weakest grade is C−. Six suburbs are within 25 miles and score higher on the same four inputs.
SuburbCost of livingOverall
Festus25 mi from KirkwoodB+ 59 C Lemay8 mi from KirkwoodB 60 C Mehlville8 mi from KirkwoodB 64 C+ Jennings13 mi from KirkwoodB 39 D− Arnold11 mi from KirkwoodB 64 C+ St. Louis10 mi from KirkwoodB 57 C− Cost-of-living index composed in-house from housing cost, utilities, effective property tax and local sales tax · Median home value: ACS 2020–24 · Effective property tax: ACS 2020–24
Common questions about living in Kirkwood
Is Kirkwood, MO a good place to live?
Kirkwood scores 76 out of 100, 3rd of 60 St. Louis suburbs. It is strongest on schools and weakest on cost of living. Every weight behind that score is published on the methodology page.
Is Kirkwood expensive to live in?
Cost of living grades C−. The median home is $451,400, 84% above the St. Louis median, and the effective property tax rate is 1.02%. $1,348/mo is the median gross rent.
How good are the schools in Kirkwood?
Schools grade A. The districts serving Kirkwood sit at the 98th pct within-state proficiency percentile, with a 98% graduation rate and a 14.8 student–teacher ratio. Kirkwood is served by Kirkwood R-Vii. Proficiency is only ever compared inside the same state.
How long is the commute from Kirkwood?
The mean commute is 20.4 min, with 80% of workers travelling under 30 minutes and 23% working from home. Transit density is 5.7 stops per square mile.
Can you walk anywhere in Kirkwood?
Within two miles there are 9 groceries, 68 restaurants and cafés and 42 parks, which grades B on amenities.
Are the homes in Kirkwood old or new?
The median home in Kirkwood was built in 1962 — older than the St. Louis median of 1973. That is a median, so a town can be half post-war and half new-build and still land there. 77% of homes are houses rather than flats.
Every answer is built from the figures on this page, with their sources and as-of dates on the methodology page.