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Ranked · Best value · Missouri

Best value cities in Missouri

Cities of 25,000+ residents, scored with the “Best value” weighting the live tool uses, heaviest on cost of living index, median home price, 2-bedroom rent, median household income. Scores are relative to this set; open the tool to change the weights and re-rank.

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Top 10 · computed ranking

  1. 1.St. Joseph, MO71k residents

    80/100

    cost of living index: 76 · median home price: $154,200 · median household income: $57,956

  2. 2.Jefferson City, MO42k residents

    80/100

    cost of living index: 77 · median home price: $218,700 · median household income: $66,371

  3. 3.Cape Girardeau, MO40k residents

    78/100

    cost of living index: 77 · median home price: $196,300 · median household income: $55,658

  4. 4.Joplin, MO53k residents

    77/100

    cost of living index: 77 · median home price: $168,300 · median household income: $52,097

  5. 5.Springfield, MO170k residents

    76/100

    cost of living index: 78 · median home price: $177,700 · median household income: $49,311

  6. 6.Raytown, MO29k residents

    76/100

    cost of living index: 79 · median home price: $182,900 · median household income: $68,840

  7. 7.Independence, MO122k residents

    75/100

    cost of living index: 79 · median home price: $172,900 · median household income: $60,339

  8. 8.Florissant, MO52k residents

    75/100

    cost of living index: 79 · median home price: $148,800 · median household income: $65,318

  9. 9.Hazelwood, MO25k residents

    74/100

    cost of living index: 79 · median home price: $167,400 · median household income: $55,908

  10. 10.Mehlville, MO30k residents

    73/100

    cost of living index: 81 · median home price: $218,400 · median household income: $67,071

Methodology: each city is scored 0–100 by min–max normalizing every weighted facet across this candidate set (direction-aware), identical math to the tool's “Best fit” tab. A different weighting produces a different order, which is the point: this is a starting shortlist, not a verdict.

Questions & answers
Which city is the best value in Missouri?
St. Joseph, MO ranks first with a fit score of 80/100, followed by Jefferson City (80) and Cape Girardeau (78), using the "Best value" weighting.
How is this ranking calculated?
Each of the 10 candidate cities (25,000+ residents) is scored 0 to 100 by min-max normalizing the weighted facets, heaviest on cost of living index, median home price, 2-bedroom rent, median household income, across this set. Change the weights in the live tool and the order changes with them.