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82. St. Charles, MO
St. Charles
Main Street of St. Charles in summer
WINNER
Top 100 rank: 82
Population: 63,000
Compare St. Charles to Top 10 Best Places
Once a hub for famed 19th century explorers Lewis and Clark, St. Charles is proud of its history as one of the oldest towns west of the Mississippi.

Its 60,000-plus residents enjoy modern riverfront recreation along the banks of the Missouri, as well as a rapidly growing suburban community. Vibrant restaurants are here in abundance too. All year long, a variety of festivals bring the town out to Main Street for music, dancing and good eats.

One drawback: The growing population means that the commute into town or to nearby St. Louis can be congested.

Median family income
(per year)		 $70,731 $93,313
Family purchasing power
(annual, cost-of-living adjusted)		 $79,562 $84,802
Sales tax 7.40% 6.60%
State income tax rate
(highest bracket)		 6.00%I 5.22%
State income tax rate
(lowest bracket)		 1.50%I 2.42%
Auto insurance premiums
(Average price quotes, for the state)		 $1,575 $1,854
Job growth %
(2000-2007)		 22.60% 18.60%
Median home price $174,205 $293,712
Average property taxes
(2006)		 $2,136 $4,072
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Colleges, universities and
professional schools (within 30 miles)		 25 40
Junior colleges and
technical institutes (within 30 miles)		 19 20
Test scores reading
(% above/below state average)		 38.1% 17.3%
Test scores math
(% above/below average)		 29.7% 16.6%
% students attending public/private
schools (located within town limits)		 75.7/24.3 89.5/10.5
Air quality index*
(% of days AQI ranked as good)		 68.8% 76.0%
Personal crime incidents (per 1,000) 3 2
Property crime incidents (per 1,000) 31 25
Median commute time
(in minutes)		 19.8 23.0
% population with commute
45 mins. or longer		 8.6% 15.8%
% population walk or bike to work 1.8% 3.0%
Movie theaters
(within 15 miles)		 34 51
Restaurants
(within 15 miles)		 2,470 4,141
Bars
(within 15 miles)		 301 338
Public golf courses
(within 30 miles)		 219 242
Libraries
(within 15 miles)		 58 90
Museums (accredited by AAM;
within 30 miles)		 7 11
Ski resorts (within 100 miles) 1 13
Arts funding (Dollars per person of state funds spent on arts) 1.9 1.5
Annual rainfall
(inches)		 38.65 36.31
% clear days in the area 28 30
High temp in July ° F 88.8° 87.8°
Low temp in Jan ° F 18.9° 22.9°
Has health plan
(% of residents)		 92.5% 88.2%
Body mass index (avg. for residents) 27 27
Diabetes rates
(% of residents diagnosed)		 7.1% 9.6%
Hypertension rates
(% of residents diagnosed)		 30.3% 27.3%
Median age 38.4 36.0
Completed at least some college
(% of residents)		 60.7% 73.6%
Married 51.4% 57.5%
Divorced 11.2% 8.3%
Racial diversity index
(100 is national average; higher numbers indicate greater diversity)		 31.2 104.0
Amount spent on vacations
(domestic and foreign, household avg. per year)		 $7,329 $8,012
From the August 2008 issue
Notes:
* County data
** State data

(I) Income tax notes:
Deduction is limited to $10,000 for joint returns and $5,000 for individuals in Missouri and to $5,000 in Oregon.
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On Board LLC
Information powered by Onboard Informatics
Some data may be provided courtesy of its partners.
Sperling's Best Places
Additional data and consulting services provided by Bert Sperling's bestplaces.net.
Homes For Sale
Homes for sale provided by Trulia Real Estate Search.
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