Side-by-side metrics and state or size-class ranks use the same Census and FBI fields shown on this profile. Results stay in the URL so you can bookmark or share them.
Place dossier plate
SheetMO-ST-JAMES-MO · St. James, MO 3,922 pop · income 20th pct
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around St. James
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest St. James on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Malden · lowest
38,786
Malden · lowest
38,786 median HH income
20.1% of the leader · rank #1
Gallipolis · near
50,631
Gallipolis · near
50,631 median HH income
26.3% of the leader · rank #2
St. James · this city
50,644
St. James · this city
50,644 median HH income
26.3% of the leader · rank #3
Clarinda · near
50,644
Clarinda · near
50,644 median HH income
26.3% of the leader · rank #4
Trenton · near
50,645
Trenton · near
50,645 median HH income
26.3% of the leader · rank #5
La Joya · near
50,652
La Joya · near
50,652 median HH income
26.3% of the leader · rank #6
Del Mar · highest
192,845
Del Mar · highest
192,845 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income, and FBI crime rate
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for St. James on ACS population and median household income
, plus FBI UCR reporting rate when the extract covers this place. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 3,922.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
St. James - the verdict
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, St. James lands in the 20th percentile for household income and the 26th percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
20th
percentile, household income
16th
percentile, home value
7th
percentile, median rent
26th
percentile, safety
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: St. James, MO
Missouri's St. James is a small town, with 3,922 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. The typical household in St. James brings in $50,644 a year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 12.4%. Typical homes in St. James are valued around $117,200, and the median resident age is 40.7 years. 18.6% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 49.4% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 16 residential building permits were authorized in St. James (Building Boom), up 78% from five years earlier, per Census BPS data. Crime here tracks close to the national norm: FBI UCR figures show 2308.9 crimes per 100,000 residents, near the national average (reporting is voluntary across agencies, so treat this as reporting activity rather than a definitive danger score).
Living costs in Missouri run below the national norm: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts Missouri at 90.8 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Well Below Average). Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $972 monthly. Monthly utility costs average around $219 across Missouri, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. Natural-hazard exposure scores 50.6 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of St. James's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from population change to reported crime to housing and income to work and mobility to comparison shortlist; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For St. James, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, annual population history, local building permits, FBI reported-crime rates.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles, matched public-school count; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
Is St. James growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +28 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +0.7% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 16 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
The recent population line is broadly flat. That makes the composition of change more important than the headline count: housing turnover, household size, and age structure can shift even when the total barely moves.
What can the FBI record say about safety in St. James?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 2308.9 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, near the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 1% higher in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Treat this as a reporting-rate comparison, not a prediction of personal risk or a neighborhood-level safety grade. Tourism, daytime population, reporting practices, and variation inside the city are not adjusted away. The state rank and same-state peer table are the narrower comparisons available on this page.
How far does income reach against housing in St. James?
This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. The ratio makes housing the clearest place to start this profile, but a low multiple can coexist with slow demand, older stock, or household-level hardship. Compare the home-value distribution and same-state peer table before treating it as an advantage.
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 2.3 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 12.4%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Which cities make useful reference points for St. James?
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
Within Missouri, the closest population matches are Woodson Terrace (3,935 residents, $49,650 income); Camdenton (4,017 residents, $44,800 income); Malden (3,818 residents, $38,786 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Rockwell, AR (3,921 residents); Del Mar, CA (3,921 residents); Barrington Hills, IL (3,923 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
These joined records add useful context, but they do not need another full-size panel. Each remains a separate measure with its own geography and source boundary.
Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in St. James?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 78.1%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. No single mode completely explains the work trip here. The mix is more useful than a one-number commute grade, especially when comparing places where transit, walking, and remote work divide the non-driving share differently.
Drive alone
78.1%
Work from home
8.5%
Public transit
0.0%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 1,504 workers age 16+.
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Cost of living A-
90.8 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Poverty rate F
12.4%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share F
18.6%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Violent crime F
334 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Household income F
$50,644
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
St. James profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 83/100 (A-) · 90.8 index
Poverty rate: 30/100 (F) · 12.4%
Bachelor's+ share: 30/100 (F) · 18.6%
Violent crime: 28/100 (F) · 334 /100k
Household income: 21/100 (F) · $50,644
Where St. James sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
St. James's median home value and FBI crime rate plotted with similar-size and
same-state peers (padded with large cities when the peer set is thin). The second
read: pricey does not always mean safer, check which quadrant this city lands in.
Census ACS median home value vs FBI UCR crime rate - St. James highlighted among 9 peers.Read the chart values
St. James, MO (this city): home $117,200, crime 2,309/100k
Del Mar, CA : home $2,000,000+, crime 1,562/100k
Barrington Hills, IL : home $781,600, crime 376/100k
Kiel, WI : home $172,300, crime 303/100k
Woodson Terrace, MO : home $100,600, crime 2,029/100k
Camdenton, MO : home $171,600, crime 2,911/100k
Malden, MO : home $88,900, crime 2,278/100k
Brookfield, MO : home $86,500, crime 788/100k
Bowling Green, MO : home $116,400, crime 718/100k
How does St. James compare to other US cities?
St. James measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income20% higher than other cities
Home value16% pricier than other cities
Median rent7% pricier than other cities
Safety26% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
Zoom in to just Missouri and the picture shifts: St. James ranks #161 of 234 Missouri cities by lowest crime rate, a different read than the national percentile above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares St. James against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Missouri only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Missouri-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places St. James near the bottom of Missouri's cities
Among the 875 Missouri cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, St. James ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares St. James only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#482 of 842
43rd percentile in Missouri
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 875
0th percentile in Missouri
Median Home Value
#430 of 833
48th percentile in Missouri
Poverty Rate
#336 of 875
61st percentile in Missouri
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#336 of 875
61st percentile in Missouri
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within Missouri only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
20th percentile nationally for median household income · 26th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
St. James's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
St. James's percentile rank on 3 favorable-direction measures (income, affordability, safety) vs. every tracked US city -- higher on every axis is more favorable. Not a composite quality score, just the arithmetic mean of the axes shown.
How St. James's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$117,200Among the most affordablemore affordable than 84% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023
St. James's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.3×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#3,029 of 15,516
More affordable than 80% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#2,795 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.3×, St. James sits in the affordable band:
national rank #3,029 of 15,516 and #2,795 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
The multiple is comparatively compact among tracked cities, but a low ratio can still coexist with slow demand or household-level hardship.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$50,644St. James, MO median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context St. James, MO median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for St. James, MO.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)18.6%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)12.4%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)49.4%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
3,922
Median Income
$50,644
Median Home Value
$117,200
Median Age
40.7
Poverty Rate
12.4%
Labor force participation
49.4%
Bachelor's Degree+
18.6%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
2308.9
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
333.5
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
1975.4
per 100,000 residents
Crime reporting caveat
Reflects incidents reported to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program — agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies by jurisdiction and year, so this reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score. Not adjusted for tourism, commuter, or daytime population.
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
St. James's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
3,897 residents
2021
3,885 residents
2022
3,898 residents
2023
3,887 residents
2024
3,897 residents
2025
3,925 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Building Boom
Total Permits (2024)
16
housing units authorized
Single-Family
6
detached homes
Multifamily
10
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
4.1
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
9
1
8
$0.7M
2020
7
3
4
$0.9M
2021
4
4
0
$0.8M
2022
1
1
0
$0.1M
2023
11
6
5
$1.3M
2024
16
6
10
$1.8M
Permit volume increased 78% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
78.1%
Carpool
9.6%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
1.9%
Work from Home
8.5%
Other
1.9%
Based on 1,504 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Missouri statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $219
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Missouri at $219 (electricity about $105 , water and sewer about $42 ).
These are Missouri statewide averages, not a meter reading for St. James. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Missouri's BEA cost-of-living index is 90.8 (Well Below Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around St. James is $972/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Missouri statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 50.6 / 100 (Low).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Missouri statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county St. James sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How St. James compares to similar-size Missouri cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, FBI UCR, Census BPS 2024, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.