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Best St. Louis suburbs for families

Ranked on a families weighting: schools at 30%, amenities within two miles at 20%, and the four poll questions about children, safety and sidewalks at 20%. Cost still counts, at 15%. The full weighting is shown at the bottom, and it is not the same as the overall score.

Updated Sep 2026·60 suburbs considered, 10 listed

1

A view of some high-rises in downtown Clayton seen from the Moorlands.

Clayton$830k median · 16.6 min commute

Schools A+Amenities A−Residents inactive

82

Family score
overall 77 B

2

Downtown Kirkwood, Missouri

Kirkwood$451k median · 20.4 min commute

Schools AAmenities BResidents inactive

78

Family score
overall 76 B

3

Park at St. Peters City Hall, St. Peters, Missouri

St. Peters$270k median · 22.7 min commute

Schools AAmenities BResidents inactive

77

Family score
overall 72 B−

4

Manchester, Missouri City Hall - The Lyceum Building

Manchester$323k median · 21.4 min commute

Schools AAmenities BResidents inactive

77

Family score
overall 74 B

5

Big Bend in Webster Groves, Missouri

Webster Groves$388k median · 19.0 min commute

Schools AAmenities BResidents inactive

77

Family score
overall 76 B

6

Creve Coeur, MO compilation of images

Creve Coeur$614k median · 18.5 min commute

Schools AAmenities BResidents inactive

76

Family score
overall 76 B

7

Crestwood$320k median · 20.2 min commute

Schools B+Amenities BResidents inactive

75

Family score
overall 74 B

8

Ballwin$377k median · 25.5 min commute

Schools AAmenities B−Residents inactive

75

Family score
overall 73 B

9

Concord$304k median · 24.1 min commute

Schools B+Amenities BResidents inactive

73

Family score
overall 69 B−

10

Photo of the reconstructed Ft. Zumwalt by John Foster

O'Fallon$326k median · 25.5 min commute

Schools AAmenities C−Residents inactive

72

Family score
overall 70 B−

This list's weighting

Schools 30%Amenities 20%Resident poll (Q2, Q5, Q6, Q8) 20%Cost of living 15%Housing 10%Commute 5%

Poll components only count for places with eight or more resident responses; for the others the remaining weights re-normalise to 100%.

Other St. Louis lists

Most affordable St. Louis suburbs Best St. Louis suburbs for schools Shortest commutes to Downtown St. Louis Most walkable St. Louis suburbs Best St. Louis suburbs for young professionals How we score St. Louis suburbs →

Photos from Wikimedia Commons: Clayton (Lightmetro · CC BY-SA 4.0); Kirkwood (Paul Sableman · CC BY 2.0); St. Peters (Shane52sk · CC BY-SA 3.0); Manchester (JDMcGreg · CC BY-SA 3.0); Webster Groves (Paul Sableman · CC BY 2.0); Creve Coeur (LittleT889 · CC BY-SA 4.0); Crestwood (Guerreroast · CC BY-SA 4.0); Ballwin (Dave Herholz from St. Louis, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0); O'Fallon (Classiv · CC BY-SA 4.0).