Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 8,026, settled in 1938.
Berkeley earns a D, 235th among Missouri's 247 graded towns, mostly because of safety and health. It reports more crime per resident than 100% of U.S. towns, including 134 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. On CDC health estimates it is near the bottom nationally. One bright spot: it is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns. 35% of residents live below the poverty line in Berkeley, where Missouri’s towns sit at 14% and U.S. towns at 9.6%. Only 14 of Missouri’s 390 towns score lower on civic life.
Where Berkeley beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Where Berkeley’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Missouri), ordered by how far Berkeley is from typical.
Its grades run from A for walkability (better than 88% of comparable towns) to D− for safety (better than 1%), so the D overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 2,577 in 1940, a peak of 19,743 in 1970, 8,228 in 2020. The archive holds 5 old photos and papers going back to 2004 and 5 maps from 1935 on.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Berkeley. Close and well known come first.
Big draw16 mi State parkCahokia
Big draw11 mi Stadium & arenaThe Dome at America's Center
12 mi Stadium & arenaBusch Stadium
11 mi National ParkGateway Arch National Park2.2M visitors a year
16 mi LandmarkMonks Mound
13 mi Ancient sitePiasaCahokia: Thank You (24 Millions ) views, CC BY 2.0 · The Dome at America's Center: Paul Sableman, CC BY 2.0 · Busch Stadium: Lee Ann Ratledge, CC BY 4.0 · Gateway Arch National Park: Daniel Schwen, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Monks Mound: Skubasteve834, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Piasa: Burfalcy, CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Berkeley, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Berkeley.
Berkeley draws workers from St. Louis and beyond and has homes that are cheap against local pay, but it reports violent crime at 4 times the Missouri rate.
Violent crime runs at 16.7 per 1,000 residents, 4 times the Missouri rate; the Safety Grade counts each violent crime four times, so this weighs most on its D−. Each of the 4 graded towns on its borders reports less crime per resident, from Ferguson (D−) to Woodson Terrace (D).
In Berkeley, the level of property crime is 50.9 per 1,000 residents. This Missouri town reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 100% report less.
| Berkeley | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 16.7 per 1,000 residents | 2.2 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 50.9 per 1,000 residents | 12.4 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Ferguson-Florissant R-II runs its public schools. One of its 2 schools is below, with the reason it’s listed. The 2 public schools in Berkeley teach 580 students between them.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Berkeley Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades 3–5 | Grades 3–5 | 374 | D− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MO on state tests and graduation
At 1.2 years of the St. Louis metro’s $80K median household income, the typical home (about $93K) costs less against local pay than in 98% of Missouri towns; that ratio is one input to its B+ for cost of living. 59.3% of renter households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, against 45.6% across Missouri.
For households in Berkeley, the share who are owner-occupiers is 53%. Typical home values rose 3.2% in the year to September 2026. Homes sold in Berkeley spent a median 28 days on the market.
| Berkeley | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 53% | 64% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,074 a month | $970 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Of 32 CDC measures, Berkeley beats the Missouri average on 2 and trails it on 22. Among adults in the town, 47% have high blood pressure. Only 8 of the 247 Missouri towns we compare have a lower share of adults who binge drink than Berkeley. In Berkeley, 19% of adults have diabetes, and 42% get no exercise outside work.
| Berkeley | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 33% | 22% | 19% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 12% | 12% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 42% | 30% | 25% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 47% | 37% | 35% |
| What stands out | Berkeley | MO |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 5.1% | 8.6% |
| Fewer binge drinkers | 12.3% | 16.3% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 25.2% | 9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
22,985 jobs are based in Berkeley, 6.9 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. Jobs based here grew from 7,537 in 2013 to 22,985.
Half of commuters travel less than 8 miles. Berkeley had 22,985 jobs in 2023, up 15,448 from 2013. Also worth knowing: only 4% of working residents stay in Berkeley for work; the rest commute out. For Berkeley, the typical household income is $44,000.
| Berkeley | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $44,000 | $62,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 4% | 13% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 22 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
July afternoons reach 88°, January nights drop to 23° and about 17 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Of the losses FEMA expects in Berkeley, 30% come from heat waves and 29% from earthquakes. Storm and flood damage is expected to run lower than in 57% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 11 flood insurance claims have been paid out in the town.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The trail network density in Berkeley is 0.1 miles per square mile. 0.5 miles of trail wind through 1 park or preserve. The town has one park or preserve, 10 acres in all.
| Berkeley | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 2% | 2.1% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Independence Park | — | 10 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
24 within 15 miles of the center of Berkeley
About 2 of every 100 Berkeley residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Missouri.
City in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States
Berkeley is an inner-ring suburb of St. Louis in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. The population was 8,228 at the 2020 census. Portions of St. Louis Lambert International Airport are within the city limits.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
7 towns share a border with Berkeley.
| Town | MO rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Berkeley | #235 | D | B+ | D− | C− | D− |
| Kinloch | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Hazelwood | #214 | D | B | D | D | C |
| Woodson Terrace | #237 | D | B | D | D | D |
| St. John | #243 | D− | B | D | D | D |
| Ferguson | #236 | D | B+ | D− | C− | D− |
| Bel-Ridge | — | — | A− | — | D− | D− |
| Cool Valley | — | — | A− | — | C− | D− |
Bel-Ridge and Cool Valley have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Bel-Ridge and Cool Valley report no FBI crime data of their own. Kinloch isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Berkeley with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Berkeley grades D overall, better than 6% of U.S. towns and #235 of 247 in Missouri. It grades D− for health, D− for safety and C− for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a D−.
Not for the area. That is 1.2 years of the area's median household income ($80,196 across the St. Louis, MO-IL metro 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+.
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