Money Magazine Picked Ballwin Over Chesterfield for Best Place to Live

However, let's look at the statistics they used about Chesterfield in making their decision. Let us know if this seems accurate to you in comments below?

Ballwin and Chesterfield share many a boundary line, Parkway School District and Monarch Fire Protection District. Money Magazine seemed to like Ballwin's main park with the pond, saying it holds lots of activities there. It's possible Money Magazine has not seen Chesterfield's new Amphitheater.

Chesterfield stats

 City statsBest places avg. Median family income
(per year) $125,962 $99,975 Job growth %
(2000-2010)* -1.54% 1.38% See jobs near Chesterfield Median home price $307,298 $265,929 See Chesterfield homes for sale Test scores reading
(% above/below state average) 56.0% 24.82% Test scores math
(% above/below average) 53.4% 24.45% Personal crime incidents (per 1,000) 1 1 Property crime incidents (per 1,000) 19 16 Restaurants
(within 15 miles) 2,975 2,758 High temp in July ° F 89.2° 84.1° Low temp in Jan ° F 17.3° 20.9° Median age 44.8 36.35
FinancialCity statsBest places avg. Median family income
(per year) $125,962 $99,975 Family purchasing power
(annual, cost-of-living adjusted) $139,338 $95,706 State sales tax 4.23% 5.75% State income tax rate
(highest bracket) 6.00%I 7.37% State income tax rate
(lowest bracket) 1.50%I 3.13% Auto insurance premiums
(Average price quotes, for the state) $1,401 $1,687 Job growth %
(2000-2010)* -1.54% 24.63%
Housing Median home price $307,298 $265,929 Average property taxes
(2010) $4,315 $4,083
Education Colleges, universities and
professional schools (within 30 miles) 18 28 Test scores reading
(% above/below state average) 56.0% 25.1% Test scores math
(% above/below average) 53.4% 24.7% % students attending public/private
schools (located within town limits) 85.5/14.5 92.1/7.9 Quality of life Air quality index*
(% of days AQI ranked as good) 66.0% 78.5% Personal crime incidents (per 1,000) 1 1 Property crime incidents (per 1,000) 19 16 Median commute time (in minutes) 22.7 23.3 % population with commute
45 mins. or longer 8.2% 15.4% % population walk or bike to work 1.5% 2.6% Leisure and culture Movie theaters
(within 15 miles) 35 30 Restaurants
(within 15 miles) 2,975 2,758 Bars
(within 15 miles) 311 208 Public golf courses
(within 30 miles) 162 165 Libraries
(within 15 miles) 73 74 Museums (accredited by AAM;
within 30 miles) 0 10 Ski resorts (within 100 miles) 1 16 Arts funding (Dollars per person of state funds spent on arts) 2.3 1.2 Weather Annual rainfall
(inches) 38 39.07 % clear days in the area 28 27 High temp in July ° F 89.2° 84.1° Low temp in Jan ° F 17.3° 20.9° Meet the neighbors Median age 44.8 36.35 Completed at least some college
(% of residents) 83.6% 74.5% Married % 64.8% 61.5% Divorced % 6.7% 7.6% Racial diversity index
(100 is national average; higher numbers indicate greater diversity) 58.2 71.0 This information is from the Sept. 2011 issue of Money Magazine.