Article Table Of Contents
St. Louis's neighborhoods conjure up too many stereotypes to count. You've got hipster areas, preppy places, neighborhoods where college kids thrive, and of course, ghettos.
It seems as if there's a neighborhood for everyone in St. Louis.
And while the city consistently ranks as one of the best places to live in the country thanks in part to a strong economy and tons of entertainment, it's not all rainbows and sunshine in St. Louis. Some neighborhoods aren't as great as others.
So the question arises, which St. Louis neighborhoods are the worst, and which are the best?
Today, we'll use science and data to determine which St. Louis hoods need a little tender loving care - the sore thumbs of the St. Louis area if you will. Realistically, you can't expect all the neighborhoods to be amazing, although Shaw ranks way above the rest.
We examined 79 of St. Louis's neighborhoods to find out the worst places to live. These places don't quite measure up to St. Louis's reputation.
The Worst Neighborhoods In St. Louis For 2022
So what's the worst neighborhood to live in St. Louis for 2022? According to the most recent census data, Hyde Park looks to be the worst neighborhood in St. Louis.
Read on to see how we determined the places around St. Louis that need a pick-me-up. And remember, don't blame the messenger.
Once you're done, you can look at the bottom of the story for a complete chart of every neighborhood we looked at from worst to best. Looking for places to avoid outside of the city? You can also check out the worst suburbs of St. Louis.
For more Missouri reading, check out:
- Best Places To Live In Missouri
- Cheapest Places To Live In Missouri
- Most Dangerous Cities in Missouri
The 10 Worst Neighborhoods In St. Louis For 2022
/10
Population: 1,766
Rank Last Year: 1 (No Change)
Median Home Value: $13,525 (worst)
Median Income: $17,742 (2nd worst)
More on Hyde Park: Data
/10
Population: 941
Rank Last Year: -
Median Home Value: $39,875 (5th worst)
Median Income: $20,035 (5th worst)
More on Fairground Neighborhood: Data
/10
Population: 1,326
Rank Last Year: 2 (Down 1)
Median Home Value: $31,250 (3rd worst)
Median Income: $20,405 (6th worst)
More on College Hill: Data
/10
Population: 998
Rank Last Year: 3 (Down 1)
Median Home Value: $54,533 (14th worst)
Median Income: $17,567 (worst)
More on Fountain Park: Data
/10
Population: 2,680
Rank Last Year: 5 (No Change)
Median Home Value: $19,200 (2nd worst)
Median Income: $19,192 (3rd worst)
More on Hamilton Heights: Data
/10
Population: 5,076
Rank Last Year: 4 (Down 2)
Median Home Value: $46,385 (7th worst)
Median Income: $20,499 (7th worst)
More on Jeffvanderlou: Data
/10
Population: 5,002
Rank Last Year: 6 (Down 1)
Median Home Value: $47,573 (9th worst)
Median Income: $24,483 (2worst)
More on Wells-Goodfellow: Data
/10
Population: 1,367
Rank Last Year: 8 (No Change)
Median Home Value: $55,300 (15th worst)
Median Income: $27,263 (26th worst)
More on North Riverfront: Data
/10
Population: 3,592
Rank Last Year: 9 (No Change)
Median Home Value: $44,040 (6th worst)
Median Income: $19,323 (4th worst)
More on Near North Riverfront: Data
/10
Population: 4,569
Rank Last Year: 7 (Down 3)
Median Home Value: $46,888 (8th worst)
Median Income: $25,594 (22nd worst)
More on Mark Twain: Data
Methodology: How we determined the worst St. Louis neighborhoods in 2022
To figure out how bad a place is to live in, we only needed to know what kinds of things people like and then decide what places have the least amount of those things. We threw the following criteria into this analysis in order to get the best, most complete results possible. We used this set of criteria for each neighborhood in St. Louis:
- High unemployment (Less jobs)
- Low median income (Less pay)
- Low population density (No things to do)
- Low home values (No one's willing to pay to live here)
- High crime (Estimated)
Then, we ranked each neighborhood in St. Louis, Missouri for each of these criteria from worst to best.
Next, we averaged the individual rankings for each criteria into a "Worst Score".
The neighborhood with the lowest "Worst Score" ranks as the worst neighborhood of St. Louis.
Read on below to learn more about these terrible places around St. Louis to live. Or skip to the end to see the list of all 79 neighborhoods ranked from worst to best.
This list is a scientific analysis based on real data and is completely unbiased. Hold on to your pants.
Summary: The Worst Neighborhoods Around St. Louis
Well there you have it -- the worst of the neighborhoods in St. Louis with Hyde Park landing at the bottom of the pack.
As we mentioned earlier, the neighborhoods in St. Louis aren't all bad. Shaw takes the cake as the best place to live in St. Louis.
We ranked the neighborhoods from worst to best in the chart below.
For more Missouri reading, check out: