Missouri cities

The best places to live in Missouri

Missouri's largest cities ranked on cost, safety, schools, jobs and quality of life. Ballwin leads the list.

We scored Missouri's cities on the same factors as our state rankings, then ranked them. Below are the 10 largest by population. Two scores per city: value (what you get for the cost) and overall livability (everything combined). Tap any city for its full profile.

#CityMedian homeRentValueOverall
6 O'Fallon $246,100 $1,185 74 73
13 Blue Springs $189,100 $1,071 64 65
18 Lee's Summit $248,800 $1,160 64 62
23 St. Charles $226,200 $1,029 55 58
34 Columbia $215,300 $935 29 47
41 Independence $130,400 $930 46 39
50 Kansas City $175,400 $1,040 26 30
51 St. Joseph $120,300 $816 48 29
57 St. Louis $153,200 $873 16 14
58 Springfield $127,800 $799 12 10

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Sources: Home prices and rent from Zillow; income and jobs from the U.S. Census; schools from state education data; crime from the FBI; air quality from the EPA. Rankings are within Missouri. Updated 2026.