Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Public schools that outperform most of Missouri. Population 8,079: a town in Missouri.
Brentwood’s strongest is schools (A+). The town grades A− overall and ranks 48th of 247 in Missouri. Set against the rest, it does better than 78% of U.S. towns. The drawback is safety: it reports more crime per resident than 88% of U.S. towns, including 17 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. It also trails on cost of living (C): the typical home is worth about $267K, 3.3 years of the St. Louis metro’s $80K median household income. The biggest park or preserve is Brentwood Park, at 47 acres. Nearly three quarters of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more locally, above both Missouri’s towns (22%) and U.S. towns (29%). On health, just 7 of Missouri’s 419 towns do better.
Figures: schools, state test and graduation results · FBI crime data, 2025 · home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · health, CDC PLACES · OpenStreetMap.
Where Brentwood beats most towns.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| McGrath Elem. | K–5 | 236 |
| Mark Twain Elem. | K–5 | 173 |
| St. Mary Magdalen School | PK–8 | 184 |
| Widest gap | Brentwood | MO |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 6.5% | 13.7% |
Where Brentwood’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 Brentwood is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 2,819 in 1930, a peak of 12,250 in 1960, 8,233 in 2020. The archive holds 8 old photos and papers going back to 1917 and 6 maps from 1933 on.
Explore the history →Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Brentwood. Close and well known come first.
Big draw16 mi State parkCahokia
Big draw9 mi Stadium & arenaThe Dome at America's Center
8 mi Stadium & arenaBusch Stadium
9 mi National ParkGateway Arch National Park2.2M visitors a year
8 mi Stadium & arenaEnterprise Center
19 mi Theme parkMid America AdventureCahokia: 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 · Enterprise Center: Haaron755, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Mid America Adventure: Chris Hagerman from New Port Richey, FL, US, CC BY 2.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Brentwood, 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 Brentwood.
Brentwood has schools in the top 5% of Missouri, draws workers from St. Louis and beyond and has less food insecurity than most of Missouri.
Its A+ ranks #1 of the 247 Missouri towns we grade for schools.
The Brentwood school district runs its public schools. Three of its 6 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed. The 5 public schools in Brentwood teach 847 students between them.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| McGrath Elem.Largest public elementary schoolGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 236 | A+ |
| Brentwood HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 195 | A+ |
| Mark Twain Elem.Top results in townGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 173 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MO on state tests and graduation
Its widest gap with Missouri is food insecurity: 6.5% of its 6,806 adults worry about having enough food, against 13.7% statewide.
For adults in Brentwood, the share who smoke cigarettes is 9.1%. Only 2 of the 247 Missouri towns we compare have a lower share of adults who say their health is fair or poor than Brentwood. Two figures for adults locally: 30% sleep under 7 hours, 20% binge drink. On the CDC’s 32 measures, Brentwood is ahead of Missouri on 24 and behind on 2.
| Brentwood | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 9.5% | 15% | 14% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 38% | 36% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 16% | 16% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 38% | 35% |
| What stands out | Brentwood | MO |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 6.5% | 13.7% |
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 7.8% | 15.8% |
| More binge drinkers | 20.3% | 16.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
12,333 jobs are based in Brentwood, 3 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
The typical household income for Brentwood comes to $100,000. Jobs in Brentwood grew by 2,410 from 2013 to 2023, reaching 12,333. In Brentwood, 18% of workers do their job from home. The median commute is under 6 miles.
| Brentwood | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 18% | 9% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 5.1% | 14% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $100,000 | $62,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 19 minutes | 22 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Property crime runs at 34.6 per 1,000 residents, about twice the Missouri rate, most of it theft.
Brentwood’s property crime rate stands at 34.6 per 1,000 residents. In Brentwood, the level of violent crime is 2.1 per 1,000 residents.
| Brentwood | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 34.6 per 1,000 residents | 12.4 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.1 per 1,000 residents | 2.3 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
503 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 56 properties have flooded more than once.
Compared with just over three quarters of U.S. communities, expected storm and flood damage in Brentwood is higher. 503 flood insurance claims have been paid in the town since 1978. Expected losses in Brentwood break down as 44% from inland flooding and 25% from heat waves. Households locally have drawn federal disaster aid in 6 declared disasters, most recently in 2025.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Count the trails in 8 parks and preserves and they come to 0.6 miles. Brentwood’s concentration of trails is 0.3 miles per square mile.
| Brentwood | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 3.6% | 2.1% | 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. Brentwood Park | 0.2 mi | 47 |
| 2. Memorial Park | 0.1 mi | 15 |
| 3. Brentwood Sports Complex | — | 15 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The median property tax bill is $3,738, against $1,948 across Missouri, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
Homes in Brentwood are typically worth about $267,000, up 2.3% in a year, close to the Missouri typical home. In Brentwood, the median rent is $1,439 a month. Bidding over the asking price: 26% of homes sold locally.
| Brentwood | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,439 a month | $970 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 63% | 64% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
24 within 15 miles of the center of Brentwood
About 7 of every 100 Brentwood residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Missouri.
City in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States
Brentwood is an inner-ring suburb of St. Louis in Clayton Township, St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. The population was 8,233 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Brentwood.
| Town | MO rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brentwood | #48 | A− | C | D | A+ | A+ |
| Webster Groves | #8 | A | D | B+ | A+ | A+ |
| Maplewood | #68 | B+ | B | D− | A | A− |
| Richmond Heights | #96 | B | D | D− | A+ | A+ |
| Rock Hill | #29 | A− | C− | B | A+ | A |
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Brentwood grades A− overall, better than 78% of U.S. towns and #48 of 247 in Missouri. It grades A+ for health, D for safety and A+ for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a D.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C.
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