Best Missouri County to Raise a Family? That’s Completely Insane

When I first saw this claim, I literally laughed out loud. The internet believes it knows the best Missouri county to raise a family and the internet is absolutely wrong. I'd go as far as saying they're out of their minds.

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A bit of a disclaimer first: I do agree that the Missouri county mentioned as "the best one to raise a family in Missouri" has some positive aspects. But, in my opinion they are basing it off of more or less one metric and there are so many other things to consider. I believe I can prove them wrong with my own metric. More on that later.

What does Stacker believe is the best Missouri county to raise a family?

Number 1 on their list (and I'm not kidding about this) is St. Louis County. REALLY?

Here's my problem. They base it on school rankings. Admittedly, St. Louis County has lots of great schools:

Top public schools: Ladue Horton Watkins High School (grade A+), Clayton High School (grade A+), Lafayette High School (grade A+)
- Top private schools: John Burroughs School (grade A+), Thomas Jefferson School (grade A+), MICDS - Mary Institute & St. Louis Country Day School (grade A+)
- Top places to live: Clayton (grade A+), Chesterfield (grade A+), Richmond Heights (grade A+)

Now, here's my metric to prove them wrong. St. Louis and St. Louis County as a whole is notorious for having one of the worst violent crime rates in America. But, your family will love it. Yes, that's very intense sarcasm.

There are so many factors into what makes a good family life. Sure, great schools are a part of that and there are also a lot of family activities in St. Louis County. But, you can't overlook the crime that you need to live near every single day of your life there. Factor that in and I believe there would be many other Missouri counties your family would be happy in.