Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 4,694, settled in 1872.
Crystal City gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $228K for a typical one, or 2.8 years of the St. Louis metro’s $80K median household income. It grades A overall, 17th of 247 graded towns in Missouri. On the plus side, its public schools beat 81% of Missouri towns on state tests and graduation. Only 13 of Missouri’s 213 towns score higher on safety. The biggest park or preserve is Crystal Park, at 23 acres. Among 247 Missouri towns, just 8 have a higher average trip to work than Crystal City.
Where Crystal City beats most towns.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Crystal City Elem. | PK–6 | 324 |
| St. Pius X Catholic High School | 6–8 | 154 |
| Crystal City High | 7–12 | 238 |
Where Crystal City’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 Crystal City is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 460 in 1880, 4,740 in 2020. The archive holds 4 old photos and papers going back to 1940 and 3 maps from 1915 on.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Crystal City, 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 Crystal City.
Crystal City pairs an A overall with homes cheaper than the Missouri norm, pairs an A− for schools with modest home prices and draws workers from Festus and beyond.
3,233 jobs are based in Crystal City, 1.5 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. The average commute takes 32.2 minutes, against 23.5 across Missouri.
Most working residents leave Crystal City for work: only 8% work in town. Jobs based in Crystal City fell to 3,233 in 2023, 281 fewer than in 2013. The top destinations are St.
| Crystal City | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 11% | 14% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 7.9% | 13% | 8% |
| Median household income | $73,000 | $62,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its A− for schools comes with an A for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $228K.
Its public schools are run by the Crystal City 47 school district. Two of its 3 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crystal City Elem.Largest public elementary schoolGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 324 | B |
| Crystal City HighLargest public high schoolGrades 7–12 | Grades 7–12 | 238 | B |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MO on state tests and graduation
At 8.3 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 95% of Missouri’s graded towns. Violent crime is rare: 6 reported in 2025, 1.3 per 1,000 residents.
Crystal City’s property crime rate is 4.5 per 1,000 residents, below both Missouri’s towns (12.5) and U.S. towns (9.9).
| Crystal City | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 4.5 per 1,000 residents | 12.5 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.3 per 1,000 residents | 2.3 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Within Missouri it is less healthy than 54% of the 247 graded towns: much of Missouri scores lower on these measures.
Crystal City beats the Missouri average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 0. 41% of adults have obesity in Crystal City, above both the Missouri town median (38%) and the median of U.S. towns (35%). 31% of Crystal City adults feel lonely.
| Crystal City | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 38% | 35% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 32% | 33% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 30% | 25% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 17% | 14% |
| What stands out | Crystal City | MO |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 12.5% | 15.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Crystal City has chilly winters and warm summers. Crystal City’s July high is 89°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
287 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 30 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 66% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 287 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Crystal City.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Crystal City grades A overall with a typical home of about $228K, below the Missouri typical value; only 11 of the 55 Missouri towns graded A− or better can say that. Homes are within reach (about $228K for the typical one, A for cost of living), but half of working residents commute more than 24 miles.
The typical Crystal City home is worth about $228,000, up 3.4% in a year, 14% below the Missouri typical home. 76% of households own their home in Crystal City.
| Crystal City | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 76% | 64% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,062 a month | $970 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
0.3 miles of trail in 1 park or preserve. The trail density in Crystal City is 0.1 miles per square mile.
| Crystal City | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 1.3% | 2.1% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Crystal Park | 0.3 mi | 23 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
1 within 15 miles of the center of Crystal City
About 2 of every 100 Crystal City residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Missouri.
5 notable people were born in Crystal City.
City in Missouri, United States
Crystal City is a city in eastern Jefferson County, Missouri, United States and is a suburb of St. Louis. The population was 4,855 at the 2010 census. It was 4,740 at the 2020 census. Crystal City and its neighbor Festus are often collectively known as the "Twin Cities".
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Crystal City.
| Town | MO rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crystal City | #17 | A | A | A− | A− | C |
| Festus | #73 | B+ | A− | B− | A+ | C |
| Herculaneum | #61 | B+ | B | B− | A | C |
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Crystal City grades A overall, better than 90% of U.S. towns and #17 of 247 in Missouri. It grades C for health, A− for safety and A− for schools.
Not for the area. 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 A.
5 notable people were born here, including Bill Bradley and Tom Santschi.
