Advantages & Disadvantages of Moving to St. Louis

You think about moving to St. Louis but want to get additional information on overall quality of life, job prospects, leisure activities, income level and much more before making your final decision in this regard?

Great! Stick with me since I will show you the pros and cons of living in St. Louis in the following chapters.

Living in St. Louis – Overview

Advantages of Living in St. Louis

1. Decent household income in St. Louis
2. Living costs in St. Louis are moderately low
3. Relatively easy to find a decent place to stay
4. Many people can still live the American dream in Saint Louis
5. St. Louis is surrounded by beautiful nature
6. You can experience real seasons in St. Louis
7. Decent public transport in St. Louis
8. Easy to get around by bicycle in St. Louis
9. Traffic jams are not a big problem in St. Louis
10. Low unemployment rate in St. Louis
11. Many big corporations to work for
12. Decent supply of material goods in the St. Louis region
13. St. Louis has decent tap water
14. St. Louis has decent air quality
15. St. Louis has a decent art scene
16. St. Louis is a multicultural city
17. You can try many exotic foods in St. Louis
18. People in St. Louis are friendly and real
19. St. Louis has an international airport
20. Decent nightlife in St. Louis
21. St. Louis has many great sports teams
22. People of different generations find everything they need

Decent household income in St. Louis

One advantage of living in St. Louis is that people in St. Louis can make pretty decent money and median household income is above national average.

Consequently, if you have good education, you can make a really good income and can save lots of money for retirement and other important stuff.

Living costs in St. Louis are moderately low

Also living costs in St. Louis are far lower compared to many other big cities and while people living in San Francisco or other more expensive regions have to spend far more money on housing and many other things of daily life, you will have a rather relaxed time in St. Louis in this regard.

Relatively easy to find a decent place to stay

Since demand for housing in St. Louis is lower compared to other more popular places, it is also relatively easy to find a decent place to stay while people moving to San José or other more popular places often have to search for many months until they find their dream home.

Many people can still live the American dream in Saint Louis

Since living and housing costs are lower compared to many other big metropolitan areas, many people in St. Louis are still able to live the American dream, including owning a nice home, a decent car and so on while this is often impossible for most people living in much more expensive areas.

St. Louis is surrounded by beautiful nature

Another upside to living in St. Louis is that the city is surrounded by many nice lakes, rivers and forests and this gives you the opportunity to spend lots of time in nature where you can relax and also have a great time with your family.

You can experience real seasons in St. Louis

Since St. Louis has a continental climate with warm summers and cold winters, you can also experience real seasons in this region and can go swimming in summer and skiing in winter and this can make your life much more interesting compared to people living in Austin or other hot places where there is rather warm weather all year long.

Decent public transport in St. Louis

St. Louis also has pretty decent public transport and you will therefore not have to rely on your car but can rather get around by bus or other means of public transport in a pretty efficient manner as long as you live close enough to the city center.

Easy to get around by bicycle in St. Louis

Another benefit of living in St. Louis is that you can also get around by bicycle in a pretty decent manner.

In fact, many people drive short distances by bike and can therefore save lots of money on gas and also do good for our environment at the same time.

Traffic jams are not a big problem in St. Louis

If you don’t want to get around by bicycle or public transport, you can still get around by car in a pretty efficient manner since traffic jams are rather rare and you will therefore lose less time in traffic compared to people living in Los Angeles or other much more crowded cities.

Low unemployment rate in St. Louis

You should also know that unemployment is not a big problem in St. Louis yet and as long as you have decent education, chances are that you will find a new job pretty quickly and also don’t have to worry about getting laid off as much as in other regions where unemployment would be a much bigger problem.

Many big corporations to work for

There are also more than enough big corporations to work for in the St. Louis region and it therefore doesn’t really matter what your specialization is as long as you can provide value to the corporate world.

Decent supply of material goods in the St. Louis region

Another upside to moving to St. Louis is that overall public infrastructure is pretty decent and supply of material goods is solid so you will find most things for daily life within walking distance.

St. Louis has decent tap water

St. Louis also has pretty good tap water and this means that you don’t have to buy bottled water from the store which could save you lots of time and money and you can also do good for our planet in the long run.

St. Louis has decent air quality

Also air quality in St. Louis is pretty good and this not only gives you an incentive of spending lots of time outdoors but it will also make you feel better on a subconscious level since air quality has a big impact on our psyche and our overall well-being in general.

St. Louis has a decent art scene

While St. Louis doesn’t have the same great art scene you may be used to from other major metropolitan areas, you will still find many artists and like-minded people to hang out with and can also visit many interesting museums in the St. Louis region.

St. Louis is a multicultural city

Another advantage of living in St. Louis is that it is also a pretty multicultural city where you can meet many people from all over the world and can also have many interesting conversations from which you can learn a lot about life in general and can also grow in character in the long run.

You can try many exotic foods in St. Louis

Thanks to many different cultural influences, you also have many nice restaurants in St. Louis where you can try delicious foods from various parts of the world and this can not only improve your overall quality of life but may also make you more open for different cultures and for trying out new things in general.

People in St. Louis are friendly and real

Compared to many other big cities where people are often pretty shallow and only care about what you have, people in St. Louis are often more real and honest and it is therefore pretty easy to make really good friends in this region since you know that you can really count on your people in case you urgently need help.

St. Louis has an international airport

Another benefit of moving to St. Louis is that the city also has a big international airport from which it is pretty easy to travel to various parts of the world and you can therefore visit many foreign countries in a pretty efficient manner.

Decent nightlife in St. Louis

You will also find many interesting bars and clubs in St. Louis and will therefore have more than enough opportunities to meet up with your favorite people after work or also to party until the early morning.

St. Louis has many great sports teams

Moving to St. Louis can also make sense in case you are a sports fan since there are many great sports teams in this region. For instance, you can watch hockey games of the St. Louis Blues or watch various other sports you like at a pretty high level.

People of different generations find everything they need

You should also know that St. Louis can be a great city for the young as well as for the old and people of different generations get along with each other pretty well and often even help each other out.

Now that you know all the reasons for moving to St. Louis, we also have to talk about the drawbacks of living in St. Louis so you can better decide whether you still want to move to St. Louis or rather want to move to a different region instead.

Disadvantages of Living in St. Louis

1. High crime rates in St. Louis
2. Many families consider leaving St. Louis
3. Population has been decreasing over the past decade
4. Questionable future outlook for St. Louis
5. Increasing level of inequality
6. Many people in St. Louis live below the poverty line
7. Winters in St. Louis are pretty cold
8. Many dodgy neighborhoods in St. Louis
9. Hard to find really good education in St. Louis
10. Public infrastructure becomes worse in the outskirts
11. St. Louis is not the most exciting city

High crime rates in St. Louis

One downside to living in St. Louis is that crime is a big problem. In fact, crime rates are far higher than in most other big cities in the US and many people just don’t feel safe in this region anymore.

Many families consider leaving St. Louis

Due to high crime rates and other social problems the city has to deal with, many families also consider leaving the St. Louis region since they want to see their kids grow up in a safer environment.

Population has been decreasing over the past decade

You should also note that population has been decreasing in the St. Louis region over the past decade and this may be another sign that the city becomes less attractive compared to other major regions and many people may leave the city in the future.

Questionable future outlook for St. Louis

In general, due to many problems people in St. Louis have to deal with, it is questionable whether St. Louis will have a bright future and overall quality of life may drop even further in the coming years.

Increasing level of inequality

Another problem with moving to St. Louis is that the city has to deal with an increasing level of inequality and many people who don’t make good money can’t afford to pay for rent anymore and may even end up homeless in the streets once they get evicted.

Many people in St. Louis live below the poverty line

In general, many people in St. Louis live below the poverty line and become increasingly desperate since they no longer know how to pay their bills and this may lead to all sorts of social problems and increasing crime rates in the long run.

Winters in St. Louis are pretty cold

While some people like the cold, others can’t stand it at all and if you belong to the second group of people, you may be better off moving to El Paso or other warmer places instead of moving to St. Louis.

Many dodgy neighborhoods in St. Louis

Another disadvantage of living in St. Louis is that there are many dodgy neighborhoods in this region and if you are not careful and choose the wrong place to stay, you may run into all sorts of problems and may not be able to enjoy your life at all.

Hard to find really good education in St. Louis

While you will find many solid schools, it is still hard to find really good education in the St. Louis region and you may therefore not be able to provide the same high-quality education to your kids compared to people living in Boston or other more popular regions.

Public infrastructure becomes worse in the outskirts

While you will have decent public transport and good medical infrastructure close to the city center, those things become increasingly worse in the outskirts of St. Louis and if you don’t want to live close to the city center, also overall supply of material goods may become worse.

St. Louis is not the most exciting city

While you will find everything to live a convenient life in the St. Louis region, you should still know that St. Louis is just not the most popular city and your friends may also not understand your decision of moving to Louisville and you may have to deal with many snarky comments in this regard.

Top 10 Moving To St. Louis Pros & Cons – Summary List

Is St. Louis A Good Place To Live?

While moving to St. Louis can make quite a lot of sense since living and housing costs are still relatively low compared to other big metropolitan regions and you can spend lots of time in nature, you should still know that crime rates are pretty high and many people no longer feel safe in the St. Louis region.

Alternative Cities To Live In

If you don’t want to move to St. Louis anymore, you should also have a look at the following articles:

Advantages and disadvantages of living in Orlando

Advantages and disadvantages of living in Pittsburgh

Advantages and disadvantages of living in Saint Paul

Sources

https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/

https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/stlouiscitymissouri

Own research.

About the author

This site is about living, moving and traveling to various parts of our fascinating planet.

My name is Andreas and when I was younger, I traveled the world and learned a lot about different cultures and countries.

Thus, I want to share my experiences with you so you can benefit from them and avoid common mistakes in this regard.

In my articles, you will find everything you need to find the best location for a happy and successful life.