What salary do you need to live in St. Louis, MO?
Rent of $1,137 for a typical two-bedroom, a median home value of $244,800 and a price level 4.9 points below the national average: those three figures decide how far a salary goes in the St. Louis, MO-IL metro. Here is what they add up to at different incomes.
Rent, home values and prices in St. Louis
A one-bedroom in St. Louis rents for a median of $907 a month, utilities the tenant pays included; a two-bedroom goes for $1,137 and a three-bedroom for $1,333. Over a full year, the two-bedroom median comes to $13,644.
Buying is the other half of the housing picture: owners put the median home in St. Louis, MO-IL at $244,800. That is only 3.1× the area's median household income of $80,196, a low ratio by national standards.
BEA's Regional Price Parity for the metro is 95.1, where 100 is the US average. In plain terms, the full basket of goods, services and housing costs 4.9% less than average, so $100,000 here buys roughly what $105,166 would at average US prices.
How much you need to earn in St. Louis
With a two-bedroom at the median rent, the score enters Tight at $33,000, Okay at $66,000 and Comfortable at $133,000 a year before tax. At the Comfortable line, a year of rent takes 10% of income and the median home is 1.8× income.
Royal, the top band, starts at $401,000. At that income rent is 3% of pay and the median home 0.6× income.
Nothing here is a separate rule of thumb; plug any of these incomes into the calculator with two bedrooms and St. Louis shows the matching grade.
| Grade | Starts at | Rent ÷ income | Home ÷ income |
|---|---|---|---|
| Royal | $401,000 | 3% | 0.6× |
| Comfortable | $133,000 | 10% | 1.8× |
| Okay | $66,000 | 21% | 3.7× |
| Tight | $33,000 | 41% | 7.4× |
Four salaries, three home sizes in St. Louis
At $75,000 home size barely changes the picture: one, two and three bedrooms all grade Okay, with scores from 46 to 52.
The two-bedroom column turns Comfortable at the $150,000 row. One row up, $100,000 scores 57.
| Income | 1 bedroom | 2 bedrooms | 3 bedrooms |
|---|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | 41 · Tight | 37 · Tight | 35 · Tight |
| $75,000 | 52 · Okay | 49 · Okay | 46 · Okay |
| $100,000 | 61 · Okay | 57 · Okay | 55 · Okay |
| $150,000 | 72 · Comfortable | 69 · Comfortable | 66 · Comfortable |
How St. Louis ranks among 387 metros
Ranked against all 387 metros, St. Louis sits 166th on overall price level and 182nd on the two-bedroom rent median, counting from the most expensive. Its median home value ranks 217th.
Next to St. Louis on the national rent ranking: Greenville-Anderson-Greer, SC ($1,140) and Chattanooga, TN-GA ($1,136).
St. Louis vs. the rest of Missouri
Compared with Missouri as a whole, two-bedroom rent in St. Louis is 11% higher ($1,137 vs. $1,027) and the median home is 6% higher ($244,800 vs. $230,300). The metro also reaches into Illinois; it is compared with Missouri, home of its first-named principal city.
Run Missouri's statewide medians through the same score and Comfortable begins at $110,000; St. Louis's line is +21% from that.
The nearest matches in Missouri, judged on rent and price parity together, are Kansas City, MO-KS, Columbia, MO, and Springfield, MO.
| Metro | 2-bed rent | Median home | Price parity | Comfortable from |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Louis, MO | $1,137 | $244,800 | 95.1 | $133,000 |
| Kansas City, MO | $1,238 | $287,300 | 92.5 | $141,000 |
| Columbia, MO | $991 | $258,700 | 89.4 | $111,000 |
| Springfield, MO | $950 | $230,700 | 88.6 | $101,000 |
Does the typical St. Louis income clear the bar?
The median household in the metro earns $80,196 (ACS 2020-2024). Run through the calculator with two bedrooms, that scores 51, Okay. The Comfortable line is 66% above what the median household makes. Statewide, the Missouri median household ($70,702) grades Okay on the state's own medians. Keep in mind a household median often combines two incomes.
These are pre-tax estimates from public statistics, not financial advice.
Score your own income in St. Louis
Enter your pre-tax income and home size to see St. Louis next to all 387 metros.
Open the calculatorSource: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional price parities by MSA (MARPP), line 1 "RPPs: All items"; metros per OMB bulletin 23-01, 2024 (released February 19, 2026); downloaded 2026-10-30.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year B25031 Median Gross Rent by Bedrooms (_003/_004/_005 = 1/2/3 bedrooms), 2020-2024; downloaded 2026-10-30.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year B25077 Median Value (Dollars), owner-occupied housing units, 2020-2024; downloaded 2026-10-30.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year B19013 Median Household Income (display only), 2020-2024; downloaded 2026-10-30.
Reference statistics only — not financial advice.