Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
St. Louis gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $166K for a typical one, or 2.6 years of the Alma area’s $64K median household income. It grades C+ overall, 507th of 697 graded towns in Michigan. The low prices come with trade-offs. Residents are less healthy than 88% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. 11% of residents are under 18 in St. Louis, where Michigan’s towns sit at 21% and U.S. towns at 22%. Among 701 Michigan towns, just 2 have a lower share of adults with a bachelor’s degree than St. Louis. Saint Louis Downtown Historic District is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Where St. Louis beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Michigan), ordered by how far St. Louis is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 888 in 1870, 7,010 in 2020. The archive holds 4 old photos and papers going back to 2006 and 2 maps from 1935 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in St. Louis, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Sep 12, 2025.
Ordered by what stands out in St. Louis.
St. Louis trades lower home prices for longer drives to work and is healthier than towns with similar incomes, but it trails Alma and its other neighbors on schools.
Against the 6,175 U.S. towns with household incomes like St. Louis’s, it is less healthy than 73%, so its D isn’t only a matter of income.
23% of St. Louis adults smoke cigarettes. Among 701 Michigan towns, just 6 have a lower share of adults who had a checkup this year than St. Louis. 31% of St. Louis adults get no exercise outside work.
| St. Louis | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 23% | 15% | 14% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 14% | 14% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 37% | 32% | 33% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 19% | 19% |
| What stands out | St. Louis | MI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 6.2% | 8.9% |
| Fewer adults with arthritis | 25.3% | 29.1% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 15.9% | 8.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Each of its 3 graded neighbors has a higher School Grade than its C+, Alma highest at B−.
Its public schools are run by the St. Louis Public Schools. Two of its 6 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| TS Nurnberger Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 217 | C |
| St Louis High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 244 | C |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MI on state tests and graduation
Homes are within reach (about $167K for the typical one, B+ for cost of living), but half of working residents commute more than 28 miles. At 2.6 years of the Alma area’s $64K median household income, the typical home (about $167K) costs less against local pay than in 83% of Michigan towns; that ratio is one input to its B+ for cost of living.
The median rent in St. Louis is $794 a month. The typical St. 67% of households own their home in St. Louis.
| St. Louis | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 67% | 84% | 73% |
| Median rent | $794 a month | $1,047 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
| St. Louis | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 6.8% | 4.4% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.3 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Fred & Gertrude Leppien Memorial Park | 0.4 mi | 5 |
| 2. Lions Park | 0.3 mi | 7 |
| 3. Clapp Memorial Park | 0.2 mi | 5 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Violent crime is rare: 12 reported in 2025, 1.6 per 1,000 residents.
St. Louis’ property crime rate is 5.4 per 1,000 residents.
| St. Louis | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 5.4 per 1,000 residents | 8 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.6 per 1,000 residents | 1.9 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Louis has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 83°, January nights drop to 16° and about 39 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The average commute for its 1,572 working residents takes 16.1 minutes, against 24.2 across Michigan. Jobs based here grew from 1,277 in 2011 to 1,900.
Most working residents leave St. Jobs based in St. Louis grew to 1,900 in 2021, 623 more than in 2011. Louis for work: only 11% work in town.
| St. Louis | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 16 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $51,000 | $77,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 13% | 8.9% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 53% of U.S. communities. One flood insurance claim has been paid in St. Louis since 1986.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
1 within 15 miles of the center of St. Louis
About 5 of every 100 St. Louis residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Michigan.
3 notable people were born in St. Louis.
City in Michigan, United States
St. Louis is a city in Gratiot County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census the population was 7,010.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with St. Louis.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Louis | #507 | C+ | B+ | B+ | C+ | D |
| Pine River Township | — | — | A | — | B− | C |
| Bethany Township | — | — | A− | — | B− | C− |
| Alma | #511 | C+ | B+ | C | B− | C+ |
Pine River Township and Bethany Township have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Pine River Township and Bethany Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare St. Louis with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
St. Louis grades C+ overall, better than 36% of U.S. towns and #507 of 697 in Michigan. It grades D for health, B+ for safety and C+ for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a D.
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B+.
St. 3 notable people were born here, including Edward Hartwick and Alger H. Wood.
