City comparison
Austin, TX is about 700 miles (1,200 km) from St. Louis, MO in a straight line. By road, the drive is roughly 900 miles, or about 15 hours behind the wheel at highway speeds.
Driving distance is a rough estimate (great-circle × 1.25); driving time assumes a 60 mph blended average. Real trips run 10–20% longer with stops.
A direct flight from Austin, TX to St. Louis, MO takes about 1 h 26 min, covering roughly 700 miles in a straight line. Connecting itineraries with a layover typically add 1–3 hours.
Block-to-block estimate at ~500 mph cruise, including taxi, climb, and descent — what an airline would publish, not pure airborne time.
Austin has a population of 958,202, vs 298,018 in St. Louis — about 3.2× larger by population. By land area, Austin covers about 325 sq mi vs 62 sq mi for St. Louis.
Population from US Census ACS. Land area from the Census Gazetteer (city proper, excluding inland water).
Cost indices by category, with the US city average (100) marked.
Index: 100 = US city average. Lower is more affordable.
Side-by-side costs, salaries, and sub-category indices.
| Metric | Austin | St. Louis | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,549/mo | $938/mo | 65.1% higher in Austin |
| Median home value | $461,500 | $174,100 | 165.1% higher in Austin |
| Median household income | $86,556 | $52,941 | 63.5% higher in Austin |
| Groceries index | 94.2 | 99.7 | 5.8% higher in St. Louis |
| Utilities index | 83.2 | 71.9 | 15.7% higher in Austin |
| Transportation index | 96.6 | 98.5 | 1.9% higher in St. Louis |
| Healthcare index | 96.1 | 98.7 | 2.7% higher in St. Louis |
How much you'd need to earn in the other city to keep the same standard of living.
If you earn $100,000 in Austin, you'd need $83,649 in St. Louis to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
St. Louis, MO is about 16.4% cheaper overall than Austin, TX, based on our cost-of-living index. Housing costs are roughly 53% higher in Austin than in St. Louis. If you earn $80,000 in Austin, you'd need about $66,919 in St. Louis to keep the same standard of living.