Best Places to Live

Money's list of America's best small towns

41 of 100

41. Lake St. Louis, MO

Vote for this town as fan favorite: Thanks for liking one of Money's Best Places to Live. Now take charge of your financial life: Like Money magazine on Facebook for analysis and advice you can trust. WINNER Top 100 rank: 41 Population: 14,300 Compare Lake St. Louis to Top 10 Best Places Conceived as a private resort community in the 1960s, this town 35 miles from St. Louis boasts an array of golf courses, tennis courts, and pools, available to Community Association members for $450 per family. As its name implies, the town’s two main features are its private lakes, with the big lake measuring 550 acres. It also serves as home to the National Equestrian Center. Although the local economy has been struggling a bit, the General Motors plant that’s one town over added 500 jobs in 2011. --D.B. Subscribe to Money Magazine Fan Favorite Towns It's your turn to choose. Which town should be No. 1? Fan Favorite Foods Share your town's specialty and pick your top dish.

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WINNER

Top 100 rank: 41
Population: 14,300
Compare Lake St. Louis to Top 10 Best Places

Conceived as a private resort community in the 1960s, this town 35 miles from St. Louis boasts an array of golf courses, tennis courts, and pools, available to Community Association members for $450 per family. As its name implies, the town’s two main features are its private lakes, with the big lake measuring 550 acres. It also serves as home to the National Equestrian Center. Although the local economy has been struggling a bit, the General Motors plant that’s one town over added 500 jobs in 2011. --D.B.

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Lake St. Louis stats

	City stats	Best places avg.
Median family income (per year)	$107,156	$99,975
Job growth % (2000-2010)*	39.89%	24.63%
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Median home price	$186,000	$265,929
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Test scores reading (% above/below state average)	33.0%	25.1%
Test scores math (% above/below average)	32.4%	24.7%
Personal crime incidents (per 1,000)	1	1
Property crime incidents (per 1,000)	21	16
Restaurants (within 15 miles)	838	2,758
High temp in July ° F	88.3°	84.1°
Low temp in Jan ° F	18.4°	20.9°
Median age	42.2	36.35

Financial	City stats	Best places avg.
Median family income (per year)	$107,156	$99,975
Family purchasing power (annual, cost-of-living adjusted)	$118,535	$95,706
State sales tax	4.23%	5.75%
State income tax rate (highest bracket)	6.00%^I	7.37%
State income tax rate (lowest bracket)	1.50%^I	3.13%
Auto insurance premiums (Average price quotes, for the state)	$1,401	$1,687
Job growth % (2000-2010)*	39.89%	24.63%
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Housing
Median home price	$186,000	$265,929
Average property taxes (2010)	$2,481	$4,083
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Education
Colleges, universities and professional schools (within 30 miles)	17	28
Test scores reading (% above/below state average)	33.0%	25.1%
Test scores math (% above/below average)	32.4%	24.7%
% students attending public/private schools (located within town limits)	85.4/14.6	92.1/7.9
Quality of life
Air quality index* (% of days AQI ranked as good)	79.0%	78.5%
Personal crime incidents (per 1,000)	1	1
Property crime incidents (per 1,000)	21	16
Median commute time (in minutes)	26.8	23.3
% population with commute 45 mins. or longer	17.0%	15.4%
% population walk or bike to work	0.8%	2.6%
Leisure and culture
Movie theaters (within 15 miles)	12	30
Restaurants (within 15 miles)	838	2,758
Bars (within 15 miles)	68	208
Public golf courses (within 30 miles)	114	165
Libraries (within 15 miles)	20	74
Museums (accredited by AAM; within 30 miles)	5	10
Ski resorts (within 100 miles)	1	16
Arts funding (Dollars per person of state funds spent on arts)	2.3	1.2
Weather
Annual rainfall (inches)	38.64	39.07
% clear days in the area	28	27
High temp in July ° F	88.3°	84.1°
Low temp in Jan ° F	18.4°	20.9°
Meet the neighbors
Median age	42.2	36.35
Completed at least some college (% of residents)	73.8%	74.5%
Married %	69.9%	61.5%
Divorced %	7.7%	7.6%
Racial diversity index (100 is national average; higher numbers indicate greater diversity)	29.0	71.0

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More financial, housing, school, quality of life stats

From the September 2011 issue

Notes: *County data

(I) Income tax notes:
The deduction for federal income tax is limited to $5,000 for individuals and $10,000 for joint returns in Missouri and Montana, and to $5,850 for all filers in Oregon.

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TV's Jeopardy! will feature a category of Best Places clues. Try the online version’s questions.
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Homes for sale
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Fan Favorite Food

We asked readers to share their favorite hometown dishes. Now it’s time for you to choose: The most popular dish will be named Fan Favorite!

Hometown dish	Town
1. Low Cal Tex Mex	Seguin, TX
2. Chile Relleno	Seguin, TX
3. Super Bowl Breakfast	Jamestown, CA,
4. Texas BBQ	Luling, TX
5. Shrimp 'n Grits to die for!	Raleigh, NC

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Fan Favorite Towns

Money picked the top 100. Now it's your turn: Which town will be our fan favorite? 'Like' your town and it might just make it to No. 1.

Town	# of Likes
1. Saratoga Springs, NY	407
2. Glen Ellyn, IL	202
3. Castle Rock, CO	199
4. Mason, OH	181
5. Oswego, IL	172

See the rest

Find Your Best Places

How we picked the Best Places

Using statistics from data services company Onboard Informatics, we crunched the numbers in order to zero in on America's best small towns for families. (Last year, we looked at small cities, with populations between 50,000 and 300,000.) More

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Best Places to Live

Money's list of America's best small towns