All About St. Louis County

If you’re new to the St. Louis area, or about to move here, one quirk of the area is that the city of St. Louis is separate from St. Louis County, and has been since 1877.

Moving to St. Louis County? Here's a break-down of the various "counties" within St. Louis County! — Moving to St. Louis County? Here’s a break-down of the various “counties” within St. Louis County!

St. Louis County has more than three times the number of residents that St. Louis City does, at around 1 million residents as of the 2016 census, and almost eight times the amount of land, at 523 square miles versus St. Louis City’s 66 square miles.

St. Louis County is broken into essentially four parts: North County, Mid County, West County and South County.

North County

North County can be described as the more industrial part of St. Louis County as compared to the other parts of the county. It is home to Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, Boeing’s Defense, Space and Security unit, and Emerson Electric Company. This part of the county has one of the most diverse populations in St. Louis County, both racially and socioeconomically. Some of the cities of North County include Bellefontaine Neighbors, Black Jack, Bridgeton, Ferguson, Florissant, Hazelwood, Jennings, and Spanish Lake, and although there are no actual borders within St. Louis County, North County generally could be considered as anything north of Page Avenue.

West County

West County is the area of St. Louis County north of I-44 and west of I-270. It has some of the highest-income towns in Missouri and is home to some professional athletes. Towns in West County include Chesterfield, Clarkson Valley, Des Peres, Eureka, Town and Country, Creve Coeur, Ballwin and Manchester.

There are two major outdoor malls in Chesterfield Valley in West County, Taubman Prestige Outlets and St. Louis Premium outlet malls, and the mall West County Center is in Des Peres. School districts serving West County include the Valley Park School District, the Rockwood School District, the Parkway School District and the Meramec Valley School District. One of the best-known places to go in West County is the Butterfly House in Faust Park.

Mid County

The central and eastern portions of St. Louis County make up the majority of Mid County, with the city of St. Louis to the east of Mid County. Everything in Mid County is a hop, skip and a jump away from a major highway, with I-70 to the north, I-270 on the west, I-44 to the south, I-170 to the east and I-64 east-west down the middle. Cities in Mid County include St. Louis County’s county seat, Clayton, and Richmond Heights, Frontenac, Ladue, Olivette and University City. Mid County has the Saint Louis Galleria and the Frontenac Mall, along with The Loop in University City.

South County

As you may be able to guess, South County is everything else – essentially everything south of I-44. Although most of South County is unincorporated, major communities include Green Park, Crestwood, Concord, Shrewsbury, Lemay, Mehlville, Oakville, Affton, south Webster Groves, Sappington and Sunset Hills. The area has a large enclosed shopping center, South County Center, and several attractions including the Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site, Grant’s Farm, and Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery.

Regardless of where you live in the St. Louis area or where you plan to move to in the area, ABC Quality Moving & Storage can help you move to or from St. Louis County with our professional St. Louis movers.