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Towns / Missouri

Berkeley, Missouri

Berkeley is a suburb of about 8,000 people in St. Louis County, Missouri, in the St. Louis area. It has lost about 2% of its people since 2020. A typical home costs about 1.9 years of the typical household's income, compared with 4.1 across the U.S. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, St. Louis, is about 9 miles away as the crow flies.

Suburb of St. Louis

Population
8,026
down 2.4% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$82,300
St. Louis County prices up 17% since 2022
Household income
$44,265
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, St. Louis area
95.1
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
5 miles
Bridgeton, MO
To St. Louis
9 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 4.9% below the U.S. average in the St. Louis metro area.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 1.9 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood134 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 16.7 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 50.9 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town8 public schools: 5 elementary, 2 middle and 1 high school.
  • A hospital close bySSM Health Depaul Hospital St. Louis in Bridgeton, about 5 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big citySt. Louis is about 9 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Berkeley meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

What kind of town

A suburb, not a stand-alone small town

Berkeley runs into the built-up area around St. Louis (Census Bureau, 2020 urban areas). We include suburbs under 20,000 people because some still feel like small towns, but daily life here is closer to the suburbs than to the towns Frank and Dave's book describes. Weigh it against towns farther out.

The book sorts small towns into six types. These labels come only from the numbers; take the quiz to see which type fits your family.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$82,300U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 17%St. Louis County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$1,074 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$44,265U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
53%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$1,264 a yearMissouri: $1,948
Homes built before 1940
8%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
3%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
1%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
95.1U.S. average = 100 (the St. Louis metro area)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 17% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the St. Louis metro area, not Berkeley alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2025 estimate
8,0262020: 8,222
Median age
28 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
12%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
33%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
14%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
4%U.S.: 6%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Schools, health care and social services (18%); retail (17%); arts, recreation, lodging and restaurants (12%)
Unemployment rate
6%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
21 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
20%U.S.: 15%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: SSM Health Depaul Hospital St. Louis, Bridgeton, MO, about 5 miles away. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 4 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

8 public schools in Berkeley, run by Ferguson-Florissant R-II and Ritenour.

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on Missouri's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Internet

Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet
75%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
92%U.S.: 91%

Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Weather

January average low
24°F
July average high
90°F
Days 90°F or hotter
47 a year
Nights at or below freezing
85 a year
Rain and melted snow
41.7 inches a year
Snow
17 inches a year
Elevation
594 feet

Weather station: St Louis Lambert Intl Ap (2 miles away). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: SSM Health Depaul Hospital St. Louis, Florissant, St. Louis.

St. Louis County is in a metro area of 1 million people or more (USDA rural-urban code 1, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Gateway Arch National Park11 miles
  • Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site13 miles
  • Ste. Genevieve National Historical Park56 miles

Read about Berkeley's history on Wikipedia.

Know Berkeley?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Smaller places

  • Kinloch, MO261 people, 1 mile
  • Edmundson, MO842 people, 2 miles
  • Bellerive Acres, MO181 people, 3 miles
  • Sycamore Hills, MO546 people, 3 miles
  • Pasadena Park, MO426 people, 3 miles
  • Norwood Court, MO877 people, 3 miles
  • Pasadena Hills, MO881 people, 4 miles
  • Country Club Hills, MO998 people, 4 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.