Midwest ranking
15 Missouri cities ranked by cost of living, cheapest first.
Index 77
Index 91
Sorted by cost-of-living index — lowest (most affordable) first.
| # | City | Cost index | Median rent | Median income | Population | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joplin | 77 | $873/mo | $50,996 | 52K | Compare → |
| 2 | St. Joseph | 78 | $854/mo | $54,515 | 72K | Compare → |
| 3 | Springfield | 81 | $878/mo | $43,450 | 169K | Compare → |
| 4 | Columbia | 83 | $997/mo | $60,455 | 126K | Compare → |
| 5 | St. Louis | 88 | $938/mo | $52,941 | 298K | Compare → |
| 6 | St. Charles | 88 | $1,115/mo | $83,589 | 71K | Compare → |
| 7 | Wentzville | 89 | $1,169/mo | $109,158 | 45K | Compare → |
| 8 | St. Peters | 89 | $1,186/mo | $88,708 | 58K | Compare → |
| 9 | Florissant | 89 | $1,195/mo | $64,178 | 52K | Compare → |
| 10 | O'Fallon | 89 | $1,311/mo | $104,863 | 92K | Compare → |
| 11 | Chesterfield | 89 | $1,405/mo | $137,052 | 50K | Compare → |
| 12 | Independence | 90 | $1,020/mo | $57,415 | 122K | Compare → |
| 13 | Kansas City | 91 | $1,131/mo | $65,256 | 506K | Compare → |
| 14 | Blue Springs | 91 | $1,159/mo | $82,965 | 59K | Compare → |
| 15 | Lee's Summit | 91 | $1,295/mo | $103,447 | 102K | Compare → |
Missouri has a handful of real selling points, and they're concrete rather than vague. Affordable across the board and there's a genuinely cheap city to fall back on are the headliners, plus 2 more.
Missouri's cost-of-living average comes in around 87 on the composite index, about 13% below the national average. Housing is doing most of the work; groceries and services follow at smaller gaps. Average median rent across Missouri cities runs about $1,102/mo.
Joplin ranks as Missouri's most affordable city at a composite cost index of 77 (23% below US average). Worth a look as a baseline for the cost ceiling — most of the rest of the state's cities are more expensive than this, not less.
Across our Missouri city data, typical household income lands near $77,266. That's above the national median, which puts more cushion under whatever the local cost of living happens to be.
Missouri has 15 cities in our ranking, covering a real spread of size, density, and cost. People talk about a state like it's monolithic; in practice, the place you actually live varies a lot, and Missouri gives you a real menu to pick from.
Reasons reflect aggregated city data for Missouri (Census ACS, BLS, BEA) plus well-known state-level geography. We only list points that are actually supported — different states show different sections.
Across Missouri, Joplin is the most affordable city we track (cost index 77, with median rent around $873/mo), while Lee's Summit sits at the top of the range with an index of 91—roughly 18% pricier than Joplin. Use the table above to compare any Missouri city directly against Joplin.
The other end of the ranking — priciest first.