Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
With 17,873 residents, this town was settled in 1880.
Spanish Lake grades low on several counts. The weak point is health (D−): residents are less healthy than 96% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. The town’s overall grade, D, puts it better than nearly a tenth of U.S. towns. Its place in the ranking is 225th of 247 in Missouri. Schools are weaker too: its schools rank behind 87% of the state's. A typical home there costs about $149K, 1.9 years of the St. Louis metro’s $80K median household income. Where it does best is walkability: it is easier to get around on foot or by transit than nearly three quarters of U.S. towns. Wilson Larimore House is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Figures: health, CDC PLACES · schools, state test and graduation results · home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · National Register of Historic Places.
Where Spanish Lake beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
| Widest gap | Spanish Lake | MO |
|---|---|---|
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 22.7% | 9% |
Where Spanish Lake’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 Spanish Lake is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 15,647 in 1970, 18,413 in 2020. The archive holds 6 maps from 1927 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Spanish Lake. Close and well known come first.
Big draw12 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
8 mi Ancient sitePiasa
12 mi LandmarkMonks MoundCahokia: 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 · Piasa: Burfalcy, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Monks Mound: Skubasteve834, CC BY-SA 3.0
Spanish Lake is unincorporated, so St. Louis County and regional agencies provide most services.
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 Spanish Lake.
Just over a fifth of adults report frequent mental distress in Spanish Lake. The share of adults in Spanish Lake who say their health is fair or poor is 29%, above both Missouri’s towns (22%) and U.S. towns (19%). Only 8 of the 247 Missouri towns we compare have a higher share of adults who sleep under 7 hours than Spanish Lake. Two figures for adults here: 32% worry about having enough food, 17% have diabetes.
| Spanish Lake | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 32% | 33% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 15% | 14% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 12% | 12% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 45% | 38% | 36% |
| What stands out | Spanish Lake | MO |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 5.3% | 8.6% |
| Fewer binge drinkers | 12.6% | 16.3% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 22.7% | 9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The Hazelwood school district runs its public schools. Two of its 7 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed. 5 public schools serve Spanish Lake, with 1,632 students in all.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Southeast MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 491 | D |
| Hazelwood East HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,310 | D |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MO on state tests and graduation
5.2 miles of trail in 2 parks and preserves. Spanish Lake Park, at 244 acres with 5.1 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. In Spanish Lake, the concentration of trails is 0.7 miles per square mile, above both the Missouri town median (0.3) and the median of U.S. towns (0.4).
| Spanish Lake | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.7 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 2.9% | 2.1% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Spanish Lake Park | 5.1 mi | 244 |
| 2. Larimore Road Park | — | 28 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
At 1.9 years of the St. Louis metro’s $80K median household income, the typical home (about $149K) costs less against local pay than in 91% of Missouri towns; that ratio is one input to that grade. 59.1% of renter households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, against 45.6% across Missouri.
The share of households in Spanish Lake who are owner-occupiers: 49%. The typical Spanish Lake home is worth about $149,000, up 2.8% in a year, 44% below the Missouri typical home. On the market locally: a median 45 days to sell.
| Spanish Lake | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 49% | 64% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,160 a month | $970 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
2.3% of Spanish Lake working residents work locally. Since 2013, Spanish Lake has added 282 jobs, to 2,206 in 2023. The median commute is under 12 miles. The town’s median household income stands at $56,000.
| Spanish Lake | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 2.3% | 13% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 15% | 14% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $56,000 | $62,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 25 minutes | 22 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The range runs from 23° on a January night to 88° on a July afternoon, with about 11 inches of snow a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The national flood insurance program has paid 17 claims in Spanish Lake since 1979. Compared with 55% of U.S. communities, expected storm and flood damage locally is higher. 45% of the town’s expected losses from natural hazards come from heat waves, followed by inland flooding at 22%. Federal disaster aid has reached households in Spanish Lake after 4 declared disasters, most recently in 2022.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
18 within 15 miles of the center of Spanish Lake
About 6 of every 100 Spanish Lake residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Missouri.
Place in Missouri, United States
Spanish Lake is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Spanish Lake and St. Ferdinand townships, St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. The population was 18,413 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Spanish Lake.
| Town | MO rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spanish Lake | #225 | D | B | — | D | D− |
| Bellefontaine Neighbors | #245 | D− | B+ | D | D | D− |
| Glasgow Village | #240 | D | B | — | D− | D− |
| Old Jamestown | #195 | C− | C | — | D | B− |
| St. Louis | #227 | D | B | D− | D− | C |
Spanish Lake, Glasgow Village and Old Jamestown report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Spanish Lake with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Spanish Lake grades D overall, better than 9% of U.S. towns and #225 of 247 in Missouri. It grades D− for health and D for schools. Health 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 B.
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