St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis offers some of the most undervalued urban and suburban housing in any major Midwest metro, with historic brick architecture in the city proper available well below $300,000, and new construction in St. Charles County delivering extraordinary square footage per dollar. New construction is concentrated in St. Charles County, in Wentzville, O'Fallon, and Lake St. Louis, with homes from $280,000 to $480,000 in growing communities. Draws buyers for affordability and Washington University and healthcare economy and Boeing aerospace employment and historic urban neighborhoods at exceptional value. Major employers include Boeing defense and space operations in St. Louis and Edward Jones financial services headquarters and Centene Corporation and Emerson Electric global headquarters and Washington University medical school and BJC HealthCare system. Rockwood School District and Parkway School District in west St. Louis County consistently rank among Missouri highest-performing districts, driving significant demand in Chesterfield, Ballwin, and Wildwood.