St. Louis, MO · Kansas City, MO
St. Louis is 7% cheaper than Kansas City overall.
Home Price
St.: $205,000
Kansas: $270,000
Monthly Rent
St.: $900/mo
Kansas: $1,146/mo
COL Index
St.: 86
Kansas: 92
Median Income
St.: $61,400
Kansas: $67,800
Median Home Price
Monthly Rent (Median)
Median Household Income
Property Tax Rate
Cost of Living Index
100 = national average
Avg. Commute
Unemployment Rate
Median Age
A $100,000 salary in St. Louis has the same purchasing power as $106,977 in Kansas City — based on each city's cost of living index.
Homes in Kansas City are 32% cheaper (-$65,000 less). That's a significant down payment and monthly payment difference.
Renting in St. Louis saves you $246/month — $2,952 per year. Median rent: $900/mo in St. Louis vs $1,146/mo in Kansas City.
On a median-priced home, St. Louis owners pay roughly $2,050/year in property taxes vs $2,700/year in Kansas City. Rates are comparable.
Median household income is $61,400 in St. Louis and $67,800 in Kansas City. St. Louis residents earn 10% more — but remember to factor in cost of living.
Average commute is 24 minutes in St. Louis vs 23 minutes in Kansas City. Commute times are nearly identical.
To maintain the same lifestyle when moving from St. Louis to Kansas City, here's the salary you'd need:
| Salary in St. Louis | Equivalent in Kansas City | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $53,488 | +$3,488 |
| $75,000 | $80,233 | +$5,233 |
| $100,000 | $106,977 | +$6,977 |
| $150,000 | $160,465 | +$10,465 |
| $200,000 | $213,953 | +$13,953 |
* Calculated using cost of living indices (national average = 100). Does not account for state income tax differences.
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Cost of Living
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Based on cost of living indices, St. Louis is cheaper overall. St. Louis has a COL index of 86 while Kansas City scores 92 (national average = 100).
The median home price in St. Louis is $205,000 vs $270,000 in Kansas City — a difference of $65,000 (32%).
Use the salary equivalence table above. For example, a $100K salary in St. Louis is equivalent to $106,977 in Kansas City in terms of purchasing power.
Kansas City has a lower property tax rate (1% vs 1%). On a median-priced home, that means paying $2,050/year vs $2,700/year.
Median monthly rent: $900 in St. Louis vs $1,146 in Kansas City. Annualized: $10,800 vs $13,752.
St. Louis: $61,400/yr. Kansas City: $67,800/yr (Census ACS).
Lower-cost St. Louis typically lets remote-workers keeping a coastal salary stretch further. Higher-cost cities usually win on amenities and labor-market depth.
Numbers are pulled from Zillow ZHVI/ZORI (home values, rent), the U.S. Census Bureau ACS (income), and BEA RPP (cost-of-living index). Each value is timestamped on the page.
Source feeds refresh on their native cadence — hourly for mortgage rates, monthly for ZHVI/ZORI, annually for ACS. Page caches revalidate every 24 hours via Next.js ISR.
No. This page is educational reference using public data and standard formulas. It is not personalized tax, legal, or investment advice. Consult a licensed professional for material decisions.
City-level metrics (median home price, median rent, median household income, property tax rate, COL index, commute, unemployment, median age) are sourced from Zillow ZHVI/ZORI[1], Census ACS 5-year estimates[2], BEA Regional Price Parities[3], Tax Foundation[4], and BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics[5].
The Cost of Living Index uses 100 = national average (C2ER methodology[6]): values above 100 indicate a city is more expensive than the national average, below 100 less expensive.
Salary equivalence uses the ratio adjustedSalary = salary × (colDestination / colOrigin). This accounts for cost-of-living differences but does not model state income tax variation, which can be significant.
Annual property tax is computed as medianHomePrice × propertyTaxRate. Actual assessed value may differ from sale price. Effective rates vary within a metro; these are metro-wide medians.
Commute-hours calculations assume 250 working days/year and a round-trip commute. "Tied" in the comparison table means values within ±1% of each other.
Last reviewed reflects the maximum retrievedAt timestamp across every sourced dataset feeding this page. When any source refreshes, the next ISR revalidation (every 24 hours) picks the new date.
Cost of living data sourced from [6] C2ER, [2] U.S. Census Bureau, and [1] Zillow Research. Tax rates from [4] Tax Foundation. Last reviewed .