What is the cost of living in St. Joseph?

St. Joseph has a Regional Price Parity (RPP) of 86.4, where 100 represents the national average. Housing costs index at 55.4, which is below the national average. The average 2-bedroom rent is $1,077/month.

What is the median salary in St. Joseph?

The median salary in St. Joseph is $61,551 annually (mean: $65,530). Top occupations include Home Health and Personal Care Aides, General and Operations Managers, Registered Nurses.

How safe is St. Joseph?

The violent crime rate in the St. Joseph area is 463 per 100,000 population (state-level data). Property crime rate is 1972 per 100K.

What are the schools like in St. Joseph?

The state of MO has 2,321 schools (state-level data, no metro-level federal count exists) with an average student-teacher ratio of 12.8:1. Charter schools make up 3.5% of all schools.

How much does childcare cost in St. Joseph?

Childcare cost data is not currently available for St. Joseph.

Is St. Joseph a good place to relocate?

St. Joseph has a Life Score of 53.8/100 (D), based on 6 of 7 available dimensions among cost of living, wages, rent, crime, schools, childcare, and environment (missing dims omitted, weights renormalized). This is a middle-of-the-pack score, where the composite lands for most US metros; look at individual dimensions to see the real trade-offs.

Where does St. Joseph sit among US metros on LiveAbility?

According to PlainRelocate's LiveAbility composite, St. Joseph ranks #120 of 387 scored US metros by LiveAbility Score (highest score = #1). That ordinal matches the /rankings/livability listing. See /methodology#corpus-placement for the exact sort basis.

Relocation profile · Federal data

St. Joseph, MO-KS

BEA RPP 86.4 ranks #27 of 387 scored metros for lower prices (cheaper third).

Compiled by PlainRelocate · June 15, 2026

86.4
Cost index (US=100): $1,077
2BR rent / mo: $61,551
Median salary: 55.7
LiveAbility Score

The verdict

As of June 2026, St. Joseph ranks #120 of 387 US metros on the LiveAbility Score (55.7/100), with its strongest marks in cost of living and schools.

#120
of 387 US metros · Above median: 6,245,466
metro-area population: 463
violent crimes per 100K (state-level): 2,321
schools in the state (NCES)

Weakest dimension: safety (14/100). Weigh every dimension against your own priorities, use the City Finder to re-rank by what matters to you.

According to PlainRelocate's LiveAbility composite (BEA, BLS, HUD, FBI, NCES, EPA, NOAA, and FEMA inputs), St. Joseph ranks #120 of 387 scored US metros by LiveAbility Score (highest score = #1). Cost-of-living index 86.4 (100 = national average), median 2-bedroom rent $1,077/mo, median salary $61,551; LiveAbility Score 55.7/100, strongest in cost of living and schools.

Signature: BEA RPP 86.4 ranks #27 of 387 scored metros for lower prices (cheaper third).

Purchasing power opens up: BEA RPP 86.4 lands in the cheaper third of scored metros (cuts at 91.5 / 97.0). Median 2BR rent $1,077/mo.

LiveAbility 55.7/100 puts St. Joseph in the top third (#120 of 387).

BLS OEWS total employment in the St. Joseph area is 49,300.

St. Joseph vs all US metros by LiveAbility Score

Where this metro's LiveAbility Score falls among every scored US metro (composite placement, not a desirability verdict)

56 Top 31% higher than 69% of 387 US metros

Metros banded by LiveAbility Score (0–100)

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more US metros. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source PlainRelocate LiveAbility Score · June 2026

St. Joseph housing and rent

HUD Fair Market Rents for the St. Joseph MSA; housing RPP 55.4 (100 = national average); 2BR $1,077/mo.

Studio

$774

/month

1 Bedroom

$832

/month

2 Bedroom

$1,077

/month

3 Bedroom

$1,363

/month

4 Bedroom

$1,566

/month

St. Joseph wages and employment

St. Joseph posts 49,300 total employment with median salary $61,551 against a cheaper-than-average RPP.

Median Salary

$61,551

Mean Salary

$65,530

Total Employment

49,300

Top Occupations by Employment

Occupation	Median Salary
Home Health and Personal Care Aides	$31,250
General and Operations Managers	$74,570
Registered Nurses	$77,240
Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators	$54,400
Cashiers	$29,920

Schools & Education

State-level education data for the St. Joseph area from NCES.

Schools

2,321

Enrollment

887,264

Student:Teacher

12.8:1

Title I %

Life Score Breakdown

St. Joseph's composite Life Score is 53.8/100 (D), computed across 6 of 7 dimensions (missing dims omitted; remaining weights renormalized).

Cost

93/100

Elite

Wages

32/100

Weak

Rent

86/100

Elite

Crime

14/100

Bottom decile

Schools

13/100

Bottom decile

Environment

72/100

Strong

LiveAbility Score

View full rankings →

St. Joseph ranks #120 out of 387 metros with a LiveAbility Score of 55.7/100 - a composite of 8 of 8 quality-of-life dimensions from federal data. Customize the weights to match your priorities →

Strongest dimension: Cost of living (93/100)

Cost of living

93
Schools

87
Housing

86
Climate

58
Job market

32
Air quality

26
Low hazard

18
Safety

14

What this shows St. Joseph's strongest dimensions are cost of living and schools; its weakest among scored dims is safety at 14/100. Default weights: cost 18%, jobs & housing 15% each, safety & schools 12%, air & hazard 10%, climate 8%.

Compare St. Joseph to

Pittsfield Pocatello Port St. Lucie Portland-South Portland Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro Prescott Valley-Prescott

Metros near St. Joseph on cost, LiveAbility, or wages

Nearest out-of-state neighbors to St. Joseph on BEA RPP, LiveAbility, or BLS median salary, a different lens than the size-ranked list.

Similar cost of living (BEA RPP)

Similar LiveAbility score

Source: BEA Regional Price Parities, HUD Fair Market Rents, BLS OES, FBI UCR, NCES, DOL, EPA June 2026

St. Joseph cost figures follow BEA Regional Price Parities and HUD Fair Market Rents; St. Joseph wages and LiveAbility inputs follow BLS OEWS plus the federal sources listed in methodology. This information is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. Scores are federal-data percentiles, not a move recommendation. How this data is sourced.

Verify with BEA → · Verify with BLS → · Verify with HUD → · Verify with NOAA → · Verify with FEMA → · Verify with Census →

Thinking about St. Joseph?

St. Joseph runs a $61,551 median salary at a 86.4 cost index, ranking #120 of 387 nationally on LiveAbility.

See exactly what St. Joseph's pay and cost figures mean for your own budget. Salary calculator
Put St. Joseph head-to-head against another city on the same dimensions. Compare St. Joseph
Abilene is the closest related metro in this corpus -- see how it stacks up. Abilene profile
A cheaper cost index and a higher LiveAbility score don't always point the same direction -- here's how to weigh the trade-off. Cost vs quality guide

Cost, salary and score figures are federal-data percentiles, not a move recommendation.