A Mansion for the Price of a Condo
Here is the single best reason to choose St. Louis over Columbus: the housing stock. St. Louis was the fourth-largest city in America in 1900, and it built like it. The city is stuffed with Victorian brick townhouses, Gilded Age mansions in the Central West End, Italianate flats in Lafayette Square, and sturdy Arts-and-Crafts foursquares in Tower Grove — architecture that, in coastal cities, would cost seven figures. In St. Louis, you can still find a three-story brick Second Empire townhouse for under $400,000, or a restored Soulard row house with exposed brick and a private courtyard for less than a one-bedroom condo in a newer city.
Columbus is a fine city, but it grew up later and faster. Its housing stock skews toward mid-century ranches, 1990s subdivisions, and new-build apartment complexes around the Short North. That is practical, but it does not deliver stained-glass windows, 12-foot ceilings, and hand-carved mantels that are common in St. Louis century homes. For a young person starting out, that means an affordable historic flat in Tower Grove South or Shaw with original hardwood floors for under $200,000. For a family, it means a tree-lined Craftsman in Webster Groves for roughly what a comparable suburban home costs in Dublin or Upper Arlington.
The Numbers at a Glance
| Metric | St. Louis | Columbus |
|---|---|---|
| City population (2025) | ~278,000 Civitas STL | ~938,400 Reddit r/Columbus |
| Metro population | ~2.8 million | ~2.24 million Columbus Region |
| Median home price (city) | $240K–$260K Redfin | $295K–$300K Redfin |
| Median home price (metro) | ~$340,000 STL REALTORS | $325K–$338K Columbus REALTORS |
| Average 1BR rent | ~$1,100–$1,200 Apartments.com STL | ~$1,150–$1,215 Zumper Columbus |
| Median household income (city) | $53,374 Census Reporter STL | $66,082 Census Columbus |
| Violent crime rate | Falling sharply; homicides down 45% YTD through March 2025 St. Louis Mayor | 4.3 per 1,000 residents — among the lowest for large U.S. cities NBC4i |
Where St. Louis Wins
Historic housing at a standout price. This is the headline. St. Louis's pre-war housing stock — brick, ornate, built to last — is available at prices that simply do not exist in faster-growing markets. A young professional can buy a rehabbed one-bedroom in a Victorian townhouse for under $150,000. A family can land a four-bedroom in Kirkwood or Webster Groves with top-rated schools for under $500,000. Columbus's newer housing stock is perfectly fine, but it cannot match the character-per-dollar ratio.
Free cultural institutions of a caliber that often charges admission in other cities. Forest Park — at 1,300 acres, larger than Central Park — houses a free zoo, free art museum, free science center, free history museum, and the free Muny outdoor theater. Forest Park Forever, 2025 Columbus has excellent Metro Parks and the free Columbus Commons, but nothing approaching this concentration of zero-cost, world-class attractions.
A transatlantic gateway. British Airways launched nonstop St. Louis–London Heathrow service in April 2026, and Icelandair will begin St. Louis–Keflavík in 2027. Fly STL Columbus is adding Montreal and Punta Cana but lacks a transatlantic route. Fly Columbus
Three major-league sports teams in one mid-sized market. The Cardinals (MLB), Blues (NHL), and CITY SC (MLS) all play within the city, plus the UFL Battlehawks led the league in attendance in 2024. Columbus has the Blue Jackets, the MLS Cup-winning Crew, and the cultural juggernaut of Ohio State football — but St. Louis offers more professional sports depth.
A distinct, gritty, authentic urban character. Multiple Reddit threads cite St. Louis's historic architecture, better food scene, and lower cost as decisive factors. r/SameGrassButGreener The city's neighborhoods — Soulard, Cherokee Street, The Grove, Lafayette Square — each have a strong, unpolished identity that feels earned, not manufactured.
Where Columbus Wins
Job growth that leads the Midwest. Columbus metro employment grew 1.9% year-over-year (Dec 2024–Dec 2025), nearly 10× the national rate and fourth-fastest in the U.S. Columbus Region Intel's $20B+ semiconductor project promises 3,000 permanent high-wage jobs, though its timeline has slipped and full impact may not arrive until the 2030s. Intel Ohio St. Louis has 8 Fortune 500 HQs — Centene, Emerson, Edward Jones among them — but slower overall job growth tied more to legacy industries. Fox 2 St. Louis
Population growth and optimism. Columbus added ~7,700 residents in 2024–2025, and its metro grew by over 21,000 — double the national rate. Columbus Region St. Louis city dropped from ~301,000 (2020) to ~278,000 (2025), though the metro region gained about 6,400 residents in 2023–2024. Civitas STL, Spectrum Local News Columbus feels like a city on the way up; St. Louis can feel like a city managing a long, slow recalibration.
Safer, with less reputational baggage. Columbus's violent crime rate of 4.3 per 1,000 residents is among the lowest for large U.S. cities, and gun violence is down 63% since 2021. NBC4i St. Louis's violent crime is falling dramatically — homicides down 45% year-over-year through March 2025, violent crime down 10.4% through June 2026, on pace for the lowest since the 1960s — but the city's reputation is sticky, and its violent crime rate remains high relative to peers. St. Louis Mayor, Reddit r/StLouis
Top-tier public schools with fewer caveats. Bexley High School ranks #2 in Ohio and #152 nationally; Dublin Jerome ranks #14 in the state. U.S. News Columbus St. Louis has nationally elite suburban districts — Ladue #6 nationally, Clayton #31 — but St. Louis Public Schools was downgraded to provisional accreditation in January 2026 St. Louis Public Radio, 2026, a real concern for families considering city living. KSDK, St. Louis Business Journal
The Tax Picture
Taxes are a mixed bag that depends heavily on where you live and work. St. Louis City levies a 1% earnings tax on residents and non-residents who work in the city; Missouri's top state income tax rate is 4.7%. St. Louis City, MO DOR Columbus has a 2.5% city income tax, but Ohio's state income tax is a flat 2.75% on income over $26,050. Columbus Income Tax, Tax Foundation Ohio
For a mid-career executive, the combined state-plus-local bite can be higher in St. Louis City than in Columbus. But living in St. Louis County avoids the 1% earnings tax entirely while keeping access to the city's jobs and amenities — a flexibility Columbus's uniform city tax does not offer.
Pick St. Louis if…
- You want maximum housing bang for your buck, especially if you love historic architecture — Victorian mansions, brick townhouses, and Gilded Age details at prices unthinkable in faster-growing cities.
- Free, world-class cultural institutions matter to your daily or weekly life: a zoo, art museum, science center, and outdoor theater, all without an admission fee.
- You value distinct neighborhood character, a renowned food and music scene, and a city that feels authentically itself rather than newly polished.
- You want MLB, NHL, and MLS in one market, plus a transatlantic nonstop to London.
- You are willing to navigate the city/county divide to find nationally ranked suburban schools and lower taxes.
Pick Columbus if…
- You prioritize economic growth, job mobility, and a forward-looking market in tech, finance, and insurance — and you want to ride a city's upward trajectory.
- Top-tier public schools are non-negotiable, and you want them in a growing, well-funded system with fewer district-by-district caveats.
- You prefer a cleaner, safer, more orderly city where the streets are well-maintained and the crime statistics are unambiguously low.
- You want to live in a place that feels like it is adding people, businesses, and energy every year rather than managing a long-term population shift.
- Ohio State football as a cultural centerpiece appeals to you more than professional sports depth.
- You are okay trading some architectural character and cultural grit for optimism, ease, and a sense of forward momentum.