St. Louis

Best St. Louis suburbs for schools

Ranked almost entirely on the Schools category — within-state proficiency, student–teacher ratio, graduation rate and schools nearby — with the two poll questions about children and teenagers at 20% once a place has enough responses.

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+Cost of living D−Residents inactive
99
Schools score
overall 77 B
2
Creve Coeur, MO compilation of images
Creve Coeur$614k median · 18.5 min commute
Schools ACost of living DResidents inactive
91
Schools score
overall 76 B
3
Downtown Kirkwood, Missouri
Kirkwood$451k median · 20.4 min commute
Schools ACost of living C−Residents inactive
90
Schools score
overall 76 B
4
Big Bend in Webster Groves, Missouri
Webster Groves$388k median · 19.0 min commute
Schools ACost of living C−Residents inactive
90
Schools score
overall 76 B
5
Manchester, Missouri City Hall - The Lyceum Building
Manchester$323k median · 21.4 min commute
Schools ACost of living CResidents inactive
89
Schools score
overall 74 B
6
Photo of the reconstructed Ft. Zumwalt by John Foster
O'Fallon$326k median · 25.5 min commute
Schools ACost of living C+Residents inactive
89
Schools score
overall 70 B−
7
P3110168
Ballwin$377k median · 25.5 min commute
Schools ACost of living C−Residents inactive
89
Schools score
overall 73 B
8
Park at St. Peters City Hall, St. Peters, Missouri
St. Peters$270k median · 22.7 min commute
Schools ACost of living B−Residents inactive
88
Schools score
overall 72 B−
9
Ellisville$367k median · 27.9 min commute
Schools ACost of living CResidents inactive
88
Schools score
overall 67 C+
10
Collage of Town and Country, Missouri
Town and Country$929k median · 20.3 min commute
Schools ACost of living FResidents inactive
88
Schools score
overall 71 B−
This list's weighting
Schools 80%Resident poll (Q5, Q6) 20%

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
Best St. Louis suburbs for familiesMost affordable St. Louis suburbsShortest commutes to Downtown St. LouisMost walkable St. Louis suburbsBest St. Louis suburbs for young professionalsHow we score St. Louis suburbs →

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