Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
St. Joseph earns a D, ranked 223rd of 247 in Missouri, mostly because of safety and health. Residents are less healthy than 87% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. One bright spot: it has 41 miles of trail. History is its standout character grade: an A+, better than 96% of U.S. towns, with 60 places on the National Register. 68% of working residents work locally in St. Joseph, where Missouri’s towns sit at 13% and U.S. towns at 8%. Its National Register listings include John Patee House and Pony Express Stables. On hazard risk, just 19 of Missouri’s 419 towns do better.
Where St. Joseph beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Buchanan County Courthouse and Jail
Eminem
John Patee House is a National Historic Landmark, the National Register’s top tier. Its 60 National Register listings are more than in 98% of Missouri towns with a listing.
Census counts: 8,932 in 1860, a peak of 102,979 in 1900, 72,473 in 2020. The archive holds 4 old photos and papers going back to 1855 and 4 maps from 1924 on.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Missouri), ordered by how far St. Joseph is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in St. Joseph, 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 St. Joseph.
St. Joseph has commutes shorter than most of Missouri, but it reports property crime at about twice the Missouri rate and has a long record of flood insurance claims.
The trail density in St. Joseph is 0.9 miles per square mile. The biggest place to walk is River Bluff Trails Park, 230 acres with 7.1 miles of trail.
| St. Joseph | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.9 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 4.2% | 2.1% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Krug Park | 8.8 mi | 165 |
| 2. River Bluff Trails Park | 7.1 mi | 230 |
| 3. Corby Grove | 6 mi | 101 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the St. Joseph school district. Three of its 36 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carden Park ElemLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–6 | Grades K–6 | 638 | C |
| Central HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,733 | B− |
| Oak Grove ElemTop results in townGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 502 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MO on state tests and graduation
Property crime runs at 35.4 per 1,000 residents, about twice the Missouri rate, most of it theft. Reported crimes fell from 3,158 to 2,858 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
St. Joseph’s property crime rate is 35.4 per 1,000 residents.
| St. Joseph | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 35.4 per 1,000 residents | 12.4 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 4.9 per 1,000 residents | 2.2 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
43% of adults have obesity in St. Joseph. Joseph beats the Missouri average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 16. 19% of adults smoke cigarettes in St. Joseph.
| St. Joseph | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 43% | 38% | 35% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 17% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 33% | 30% | 25% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 15% | 14% |
| What stands out | St. Joseph | MO |
|---|---|---|
| More adults facing food insecurity | 17.6% | 13.7% |
| More uninsured adults | 11.1% | 8.7% |
| More adults without reliable transportation | 10.3% | 8.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The typical St. Typical home values rose 3.8% in the year to September 2026. Joseph home is worth about $181,000, up 3.8% in a year, 32% below the Missouri typical home.
| St. Joseph | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 52% | 43% | 48% |
| Households that own their home | 63% | 64% | 73% |
| Median rent | $898 a month | $972 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
147 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 19 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 73% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 147 flood insurance claims have been paid out in St. Joseph.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Joseph has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 87°, January nights drop to 18° and about 21 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The average commute for its 30,066 working residents takes 17 minutes, against 23.5 across Missouri.
68% of St. 18% of St. Joseph residents live below the poverty line. Joseph’s working residents work right in town.
| St. Joseph | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 17 minutes | 22 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 18% | 14% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 7.1% | 9% | 11% |
| Median household income | $58,000 | $62,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the Missouri average. St. Joseph has lost 2% of its people since 2020, down to 71,001 in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. 23% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 32% across Missouri.
| St. Joseph | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 38.1 years | 38.5 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 23% | 22% | 29% |
| Aged 65 or older | 17% | 17% | 18% |
49.8% women, 50.2% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±0.4 points. Across Missouri, 50.7% of residents are women. Median age: women 39.3, men 37.0.
| St. Joseph | MO | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 12% | 11.9% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 10.1% | 10.4% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 10.1% | 9.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 13.6% | 13.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 13.2% | 12.8% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 11.4% | 11.6% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 12.8% | 13% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 10.1% | 10.6% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 6.8% | 7.3% | 7% |
| No diploma | 10.5% | 8.1% | 10.4% |
| High school | 38.3% | 30.2% | 26% |
| Some college | 21.9% | 20.8% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 6.4% | 8.4% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 15.5% | 19.8% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 7.5% | 12.6% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around St. Joseph. Close and well known come first.
27 mi LandmarkU.S. Disciplinary Barracks Cemetery
in town MuseumPony Express Museum
in town TheatreMissouri TheatreU.S. Disciplinary Barracks Cemetery: Gorsedwa at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Pony Express Museum: Unknown, CC BY-SA 2.5 · Missouri Theatre: Jack Boucher, Public domain
1 within 15 miles of the center of St. Joseph
About 5 of every 100 St. Joseph residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Missouri.
60 places in St. Joseph on the National Register of Historic Places.
57 notable people were born in St. Joseph.
City in Missouri, U.S.
St. Joseph is a city in and the county seat of Buchanan County, Missouri, United States. Located on the Missouri River, it is the principal city of the St. Joseph Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes Buchanan, Andrew, and DeKalb counties in Missouri and Doniphan County, Kansas. As of the 2020 census, St. Joseph had a population of 72,473, making it the 8th most populous city in the state, and the 3rd most populous in Northwest Missouri. St. Joseph is located roughly 30 miles (48 km) north of the Kansas City, Missouri city limits and approximately 125 miles (201 km) south of Omaha, Nebraska. The city was named after the town's founder Joseph Robidoux and the biblical Saint Joseph. I…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with St. Joseph.
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
St. Joseph grades D overall, better than 9% of U.S. towns and #223 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 2.8 years of the area's median household income ($65,005 across the St. Joseph, MO-KS 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+.
St. 57 notable people were born here, including Eminem and Jane Wyman.
