St. Louis city vs St. Louis County

A side-by-side comparison of St. Louis city and St. Louis County: population, income, housing, and more.

St. Louis city and St. Louis County are counties in Missouri. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

St. Louis County has the higher population (996,618 vs 293,109 in St. Louis city). St. Louis County has the higher median household income ($81,340 vs $55,279 in St. Louis city). St. Louis County has the higher median home value ($260,700 vs $185,100 in St. Louis city).

Population, income & housing

	St. Louis city	St. Louis County
Population	293,109	996,618
Median age	36.6 yrs	40.2 yrs
Median household income	$55,279	$81,340
Median home value	$185,100	$260,700
Median gross rent	$978	$1,164
Housing units	173,920	445,472
Homeownership rate	45.4%	69.0%
Bachelor's degree or higher	40.2%	46.9%
Unemployment rate	5.0%	4.2%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	St. Louis city	St. Louis County
Population	308,174 → 293,109 (-4.9%)	996,919 → 996,618 (-0.0%)
Median household income	$43,896 → $55,279 (+25.9%)	$67,420 → $81,340 (+20.6%)
Median home value	$138,700 → $185,100 (+33.5%)	$198,800 → $260,700 (+31.1%)
Median gross rent	$828 → $978 (+18.1%)	$983 → $1,164 (+18.4%)

St. Louis city

Population

308,174293,109

Median household income

$43,896$55,279

Median home value

$138,700$185,100

Median gross rent

$828$978

St. Louis County

Population

996,919996,618

Median household income

$67,420$81,340

Median home value

$198,800$260,700

Median gross rent

$983$1,164

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	St. Louis city	St. Louis County
Under 5	5.8%	5.7%
5 to 17	12.7%	16.4%
18 to 24	8.8%	8.4%
25 to 34	19.8%	12.7%
35 to 44	14.2%	12.7%
45 to 54	11.1%	11.8%
55 to 64	12.6%	13.6%
65 to 74	9.6%	10.9%
75 and over	5.3%	7.8%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	St. Louis city	St. Louis County
White (non-Hispanic)	44.4%	62.0%
Black or African American	42.9%	24.1%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.1%
Asian	3.4%	4.7%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.4%	0.4%
Two or more races	3.7%	5.1%
Hispanic or Latino	5.1%	3.7%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	St. Louis city	St. Louis County
No high school diploma	9.5%	5.6%
High school graduate	24.5%	20.9%
Some college or associate's	25.8%	26.6%
Bachelor's degree	22.0%	26.6%
Graduate or professional degree	18.2%	20.4%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	St. Louis city	St. Louis County
Drove alone	66.6%	73.7%
Carpooled	6.7%	6.2%
Public transit	5.2%	1.4%
Walked	4.0%	1.3%
Bicycle	0.9%	0.1%
Worked from home	15.0%	16.3%
Other means	1.6%	1.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	St. Louis city	St. Louis County
1-unit, detached	43.4%	72.0%
1-unit, attached	3.8%	4.5%
2 to 4 units	27.2%	6.4%
5 to 19 units	8.0%	10.6%
20 or more units	17.0%	6.2%
Mobile home & other	0.5%	0.3%

Poverty & households

	St. Louis city	St. Louis County
Poverty rate	19.8%	9.6%
Average household size	1.96	2.36
Mean commute (minutes)	22	23
Median year structure built	1938	1968