Photo: Lightmetro · CC BY-SA 4.0Even on the area’s higher pay, Clayton costs more to live in than almost every U.S. town
Up 7.7% in a year, 3 times the Missouri typical home.
Census 2020–24 home values, rents, tax bills and cost burden, measured against the median household income of the St. Louis, MO-IL metro area ($80K). How TownRatings grades cost of living
The grade measures what housing costs against what households in the area earn. Clayton’s area earns well above the typical U.S. town ($80K against $74K), but homes, rent and taxes here run higher still. Owners keep up better than renters: 26% of owners pay 30% or more of income for housing (typical U.S. town: 20%), against 39% of renters.
In dollars
- $891Ktypical home, 236% above the Missouri typical homeZillow, September 2026
- $1,730a month for a two-bedroom, utilities includedHUD Fair Market Rent, 2026
- 95prices across the St. Louis metro, where the U.S. is 100 (housing 79)BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024
In paychecks the grade
- 10.3 yrsof area income buys the typical home; the typical U.S. town: 3.3$80K, St. Louis-area income
- 25%of area income goes to the median rent; the typical U.S. town: 18%Census 2020–24
- 39%of renters pay 30%+ of income for housing; across Missouri: 46%Census 2020–24
- 26%of owners do; the typical U.S. town: 20%Census 2020–24
The short version on homes in Clayton
Renting costs far less than owning
A two-bedroom rents for about $1,730 a month. Owning the typical Clayton home, with 20% down at the calculator’s rate, runs about $5,300 with tax and insurance: 3 times as much. Can I afford it? ↓
A burst of building in 2022
Clayton permitted 242 new homes in 2022, 98% of them in buildings with two or more homes, against about 45 in a typical year of the past decade. 2025 came in at 8. New homes ↓
Prices vary a lot across the town lines
Typical values in the towns next door run from $181K in St. Louis to $1.38M in Ladue. At $891K, Clayton is the second most expensive of the 5. Vs. neighbors ↓
An older housing stock
Half of Clayton’s homes were built before 1954, against 1978 for Missouri as a whole. Older homes can mean character, and also bigger heating and repair bills, so an inspection matters. Property taxes ↓
Written from the data on this page. Home values are the Zillow Home Value Index, through September 2026; sales and supply are Redfin’s for May 2026; permits are Census figures through 2025; incomes, rents paid, taxes and ownership come from the Census American Community Survey.
What’s behind Clayton’s grade
Measured against what households in the area earn, Clayton is more affordable than 1% of U.S. towns, last of 247 in Missouri. The four inputs sit close together, so no single cost explains the grade.
26% of residents are college students, whose low reported incomes push up the share paying 30%+ for housing, so the grade leaves that input out.
Prices here have kept pace with Missouri: up 24.3% in five years, against 26.3% statewide (Zillow).
Up 7.7% in a year
Faster than Missouri (3.4%).
Show as a table
| January | Clayton | Missouri |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | $594,000 | $147,000 |
| 2018 | $613,000 | $155,000 |
| 2019 | $635,000 | $163,000 |
| 2020 | $659,000 | $171,000 |
| 2021 | $688,000 | $191,000 |
| 2022 | $723,000 | $217,000 |
| 2023 | $745,000 | $234,000 |
| 2024 | $778,000 | $245,000 |
| 2025 | $818,000 | $255,000 |
| 2026 | $851,000 | $260,000 |
| September 2026 | $891,000 | $265,000 |
A typical Clayton home worth $592K in October 2016 is worth about $891K today.
Zillow Home Value Index: the typical value of all homes (middle third), smoothed and seasonally adjusted, through September 2026.
Too few sales to read the market
Only 14 homes sold in May 2026, the latest month in Redfin’s figures: too few to describe the market or quote a median sale price.
A typical home costs 10.3 years of area income
The calculator starts from the area income the grade uses. Switch to Clayton’s own median, or type yours.
That’s $577K short of a typical Clayton home.
A two-bedroom rents for about $1,730 a month here, $3,570 less than owning.
An estimate, not a loan offer: payments of up to 28% of income, a 30-year fixed loan, the Missouri typical property tax (0.85% of value a year, from the Census) and insurance of about 0.35%. Mortgage insurance, HOA fees and other debts aren’t included.
A two-bedroom rents for about $1,730
Renters already here pay a median of $1,692.
Fair Market Rent a month, utilities included
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Fair Market Rents by ZIP code (St. Louis, MO-IL HUD Metro FMR Area): the 40th-percentile rent plus utilities for a standard unit. Median rent and renters: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey.
8 new homes permitted in 2025
Builders were permitted 8 new homes in Clayton in 2025: 5 single-family houses and 3 in buildings with two or more homes, worth about $7.6 million to build. That's 0.5 per 1,000 residents, slower than across Missouri (3.7). Over the past 10 years, Clayton has permitted 649 homes in all.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses, Clayton gained 1,416 residents while 702 new homes were permitted: about 2 new residents per new home, more than across Missouri (1.1): growth outpaced building.
Every year as a table
| Year | New homes | Single-family | 2+ per building | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 (Jan–Aug) | 9 | 5 | 4 | $9.8 million |
| 2025 | 8 | 5 | 3 | $7.6 million |
| 2024 | 196 | 7 | 189 | $67.8 million |
| 2023 | 5 | 5 | 0 | $6.1 million |
| 2022 | 242 | 5 | 237 | $57.4 million |
| 2021 | 4 | 4 | 0 | $4.7 million |
| 2020 | 15 | 15 | 0 | $11.6 million |
| 2019 | 31 | 13 | 18 | $23.3 million |
| 2018 | 6 | 6 | 0 | $4.7 million |
| 2017 | 9 | 9 | 0 | $6.4 million |
| 2016 | 133 | 12 | 121 | $55 million |
| 2015 | 490 | 11 | 479 | $89.8 million |
| 2014 | 13 | 13 | 0 | $12.9 million |
| 2013 | 8 | 8 | 0 | $6.7 million |
| 2012 | 3 | 3 | 0 | $2.8 million |
| 2011 | 3 | 3 | 0 | $2.4 million |
| 2010 | 6 | 6 | 0 | $7.5 million |
| 2009 | 9 | 9 | 0 | $8.1 million |
| 2008 | 7 | 7 | 0 | $6 million |
| 2007 | 58 | 14 | 44 | $25 million |
| 2006 | 96 | 10 | 86 | $57.5 million |
| 2005 | 47 | 15 | 32 | $19.9 million |
| 2004 | 137 | 14 | 123 | $49.3 million |
| 2003 | 20 | 14 | 6 | $13.1 million |
| 2002 | 36 | 9 | 27 | $13.5 million |
| 2001 | 116 | 6 | 110 | $42.7 million |
| 2000 | 39 | 17 | 22 | $19.1 million |
Homes authorized by building permits, counted in the year the permit was issued. U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey.
Property tax runs above the Missouri norm
The median bill is $10,000+ (Missouri: $1,948), 1.20%+ of a home’s value a year, against 0.85% statewide.
Census American Community Survey 2020–24: the median real-estate tax bill homeowners report, and that bill ÷ the median home value. Bills include town, school and county taxes. The Census reports bills over $10,000 only as “$10,000+”.
The rest of a budget near Clayton
Only figures published free for the whole country, each labeled with the area it covers: the St. Louis, MO-IL metro area, or Missouri. Groceries follow the goods price level; nobody publishes them town by town.
| Cost | Here | Compared with | Area | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prices overall U.S. = 100 | 95 | MO 91 | metro | BEA, 2024 |
| Goods (groceries, clothing, cars…) U.S. = 100 | 100 | MO 96 | metro | BEA, 2024 |
| Utilities U.S. = 100 | 70 | MO 79 | metro | BEA, 2024 |
| Other services U.S. = 100 | 99 | MO 95 | metro | BEA, 2024 |
Price levels: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities 2024 (metro area and state). Electricity: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electric Power Monthly, table 5.6.A.
Clayton vs. its neighbors
Of the 5 towns here with a Zillow value, Clayton has the 4th-lowest.
Cost next door · one source per column
| Town | Cost | Typical home Zillow, September 2026 | Median value Census 2020–24 | Tax rate bill ÷ value | 2-bed rent HUD 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clayton | D− | $891K | $830K | 1.20%+ | $1,730 |
| University City | C− | $269K | $307K | 1.19% | $1,400 |
| Richmond Heights | D | $390K | $359K | 1.30% | $1,380 |
| St. Louis | B | $181K | $198K | 1.03% | $1,210 |
| Ladue | D | $1.4M | $1.1M | 0.95%+ | $1,830 |
“+”: the Census reports the tax bill only as $10,000 or more, so the rate is at least that.
Questions about the cost of living in Clayton
Is Clayton expensive to live in?
Measured against what households in the area earn, Clayton costs more than 99% of U.S. towns: a D− for cost of living. The typical home costs 10.3 years of the median household income of the St. Louis, MO-IL metro area ($80K).
How much does a house cost in Clayton?
About $891K, Zillow’s typical value for September 2026, up 7.7% in a year. The Missouri typical home is $265K.
What salary do you need to live in Clayton?
To buy the typical home with 20% down at 6.3%, about $227,000 a year, keeping the payment (about $5,300 a month with tax and insurance) at 28% of income. To rent a two-bedroom at 30% of income, about $69,000.
How much is rent in Clayton?
HUD puts a two-bedroom at about $1,730 a month with utilities, the going rate for someone moving in. Renters already here pay a median of $1,692 (Census 2020–24).
What are property taxes in Clayton?
The median bill is $10,000+ a year, 1.20% of the median home value (Missouri: $1,948, 0.85%), from the Census 2020–24.
Are home prices in Clayton going up?
Yes: up 7.7% in the past year and 24.3% in five years, against 26.3% across Missouri (Zillow).
Neighbors talk housing
What Clayton buyers, sellers and renters are saying.
Home values: Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI), Zillow Research, September 2026. Sales, days on market and supply: Redfin Data Center, May 2026. Income, ownership, taxes and rent: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey. New homes: U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey. Fair Market Rents: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The calculator is an estimate, not a loan offer. Regional price levels: BEA; electricity: EIA. How TownRatings grades cost of living.