Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Sunset Hills grades B+ overall, ranked 63rd of 247 in Missouri. The median household earns $138K. Residents are healthier than 88% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates and its schools rank ahead of 85% of Missouri towns. The catch is cost: the typical home is worth about $624K, 7.8 years of the St. Louis metro’s $80K median household income. 62% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Sunset Hills, above both the Missouri town median (22%) and the median of U.S. towns (29%). Only 27 of Missouri’s 419 towns score higher on the outdoors. Sunset Hills's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) is stronger than in 92% of U.S. towns.
Where Sunset Hills beats most towns.
4.9% of the town is conserved land, across 7 parks and preserves.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Missouri), ordered by how far Sunset Hills is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 3,525 in 1960, 9,198 in 2020. The archive holds 8 old photos and papers going back to 2014 and 7 maps from 1933 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Sunset Hills. Close and well known come first.
Big draw21 mi State parkCahokia
Big draw14 mi Stadium & arenaThe Dome at America's Center
13 mi Stadium & arenaBusch Stadium
14 mi Theme parkMid America Adventure
13 mi National ParkGateway Arch National Park2.2M visitors a year
13 mi Stadium & arenaEnterprise CenterCahokia: 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 · Mid America Adventure: Chris Hagerman from New Port Richey, FL, US, CC BY 2.0 · Gateway Arch National Park: Daniel Schwen, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Enterprise Center: Haaron755, CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Sunset Hills, 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 Sunset Hills.
Sunset Hills has more trail for its size than nearly any town in Missouri, draws workers from St. Louis and beyond and fares better on crime within Missouri than nationally.
At 7.8 years of the St. Louis metro’s $80K median household income, the typical home (about $624K) costs more against local pay than in 97% of Missouri towns; that ratio is one input to its D for cost of living. Its typical home is the priciest on its borders; Kirkwood is next at $466K.
83% of Sunset Hills households own their home. Typical home values rose 5.1% in the year to September 2026.
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its A for schools comes with a D for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $624K.
Its public schools are run by Specl. School Dst. The largest public high school is South Technical, with 885 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Truman Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 816 | B |
| South TechnicalLargest public high schoolGrades 11–12 | Grades 11–12 | 885 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MO on state tests and graduation
At 2.5 miles of trail per square mile, it ranks #2 of 145 Missouri towns.
The trail density in Sunset Hills is 2.5 miles per square mile. Laumeier Sculpture Park, at 103 acres with 2.9 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. 23 miles of trail in 7 parks and preserves.
| Sunset Hills | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 2.5 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 4.9% | 2.1% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Laumeier Sculpture Park | 2.9 mi | 103 |
| 2. Watson Trail Park | 1.1 mi | 24 |
| 3. Emmeneger Nature Park | 0.9 mi | 38 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
10,455 jobs are based in Sunset Hills, 2.8 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. Jobs based here grew from 7,957 in 2013 to 10,455.
Most working residents leave Sunset Hills for work: only 5% work in town. 3.7% of residents live below the poverty line in Sunset Hills. Jobs based in Sunset Hills grew to 10,455 in 2023, 2,498 more than in 2013.
| Sunset Hills | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $138,000 | $62,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 3.7% | 14% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 18% | 9% | 11% |
| Working residents who work in town | 5.1% | 13% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its widest gap with Missouri is food insecurity: 6% of its 7,228 adults worry about having enough food, against 13.7% statewide. Against the 3,726 U.S. towns with household incomes like Sunset Hills’s, it is healthier than 56%, a smaller edge than it has nationally: part of it comes with its incomes.
Of the 247 Missouri towns we compare, none has a lower share of adults who sleep under 7 hours than Sunset Hills. Sunset Hills beats the Missouri average on 21 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 3. Among 247 Missouri towns, just 8 have a lower share of adults who have obesity than Sunset Hills.
| Sunset Hills | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 38% | 36% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 19% | 17% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 38% | 35% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 10% | 17% | 14% |
| What stands out | Sunset Hills | MO |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 6% | 13.7% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 5.9% | 12.1% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 13.1% | 8.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Sunset Hills has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 88°, January nights drop to 23° and about 10 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
At 17.8 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 66% of Missouri’s graded towns. Violent crime is rare: 9 reported in 2025, 1 per 1,000 residents.
Sunset Hills’ violent crime rate is 1 per 1,000 residents.
| Sunset Hills | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1 per 1,000 residents | 2.3 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 12.8 per 1,000 residents | 12.4 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
118 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 23 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 50% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 118 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Sunset Hills.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
23 within 15 miles of the center of Sunset Hills
About 5 of every 100 Sunset Hills residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Missouri.
Where Sunset Hills’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
3 places in Sunset Hills on the National Register of Historic Places.
City in Missouri, United States
Sunset Hills is a city in south St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 9,198.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Sunset Hills.
All 4 graded towns on its borders grade higher than its B+; Fenton (A−) is closest.
| Town | MO rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunset Hills | #63 | B+ | D | B− | A | A |
| Crestwood | #11 | A | B | B− | A | A |
| Kirkwood | #34 | A− | C− | C+ | A+ | A |
| Fenton | #44 | A− | C− | — | A | A− |
| Sappington | #20 | A | C | — | A | A− |
Fenton and Sappington report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Sunset Hills with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Sunset Hills grades B+ overall, better than 74% of U.S. towns and #63 of 247 in Missouri. It grades A for health, B− for safety and A for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
Yes. 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 D.
.jpg){kind=link}
