Living in Chesterfield, MO

St. Louis County

Chesterfield is a genuinely affluent, low-crime St. Louis metro suburb whose real, distinct identity runs on two things: substantial corporate anchors and a strong, honestly-mixed relationship with the Missouri River. Bayer's real 210-acre Chesterfield Village Research Center consolidates the company's North American agricultural R&D on one campus, Reinsurance Group of America (RGA) is genuinely headquartered in the city, and Brinkmann Constructors' headquarters adds further corporate weight -- a genuinely diversified, largely white-collar economic base distinct from many neighboring suburbs. Chesterfield Valley itself carries a real, dated, and honestly-disclosed flood history: the Missouri River's Monarch levee failed on July 30, 1993, inundating the valley under 6-15 feet of water, a real, severe event this record discloses plainly rather than smoothing over. The rebuilt levee now carries a real 500-year flood-protection rating per the Army Corps of Engineers, and the valley has since become one of the region's most active commercial corridors. Chesterfield's crime profile is a real, genuine strength: an overall crime index of approximately 31 against a national baseline of 100, with violent crime running almost half the national rate. Schools split between two real, top-ranked Missouri districts -- Rockwood (Niche's #4 statewide) and Parkway (headquartered in Chesterfield, Niche's #8 statewide) -- a genuinely strong education picture. Housing runs genuinely expensive relative to Missouri and national averages (Zillow's $462,847 typical value; Redfin's $590,000 median sale price), and the city is currently mid-way through a real, dated, roughly $2 billion 'Downtown Chesterfield' redevelopment of the closed former Chesterfield Mall -- a substantial, currently in-progress commercial transformation, not yet finished as of this pass.

Explore Chesterfield in depth

• Moving to Chesterfield: Pros, Cons & What to Know
• Cost of Living in Chesterfield
• Housing Market in Chesterfield
• Buying a Home in Chesterfield
• Renting in Chesterfield
• Taxes in Chesterfield
• Homeowners Insurance & Natural Hazard Costs in Chesterfield
• Climate & Weather in Chesterfield
• Jobs & Economy in Chesterfield
• Schools in Chesterfield
• Crime & Safety in Chesterfield
• Healthcare in Chesterfield
• Traffic & Transportation in Chesterfield
• Best Areas to Live in Chesterfield
• Pros and Cons of Living in Chesterfield
• Retiring in Chesterfield
• Who Should / Shouldn’t Move to Chesterfield

Housing

Taxes

The tradeoffs

Who this fits

Best for: Best fits families prioritizing a genuinely top-ranked school-district pair (Rockwood or Parkway) and a well-documented low-crime environment; move-up and luxury buyers with the budget for Chesterfield's genuinely above-average home values; and young professionals with a specific career tie to Bayer, RGA, or another Chesterfield-area employer who want a strong highway commute into downtown St. Louis or Clayton.

Maybe not for you if: Probably not the right fit for budget-constrained buyers who need Missouri's genuinely lower statewide housing costs, since Chesterfield runs well above both state and national averages; anyone requiring car-free, transit-first daily life, since Chesterfield has no MetroLink light-rail station within city limits; and buyers specifically evaluating a Chesterfield Valley property who have not yet confirmed current FEMA flood-zone status directly, given the valley's real, dated 1993 flood history.