St. Louis County Municipalities: Complete Directory

St. Louis County contains 88 incorporated municipalities alongside its unincorporated areas, making it one of the most fragmented local government landscapes in the United States. That fragmentation shapes everything from property tax rates and zoning enforcement to police services and municipal court jurisdiction. This page defines what constitutes a municipality within St. Louis County, explains how these entities are structured and governed under Missouri law, examines common scenarios where municipal boundaries directly affect residents, and clarifies the decision boundaries that determine which level of government has authority over a given matter.

Definition and scope

A municipality in St. Louis County is a legally incorporated city, town, or village chartered under Missouri state law and exercising home-rule or statutory authority within defined geographic boundaries. Missouri's constitution and Title VII of the Missouri Revised Statutes establish the framework under which these entities incorporate, levy taxes, adopt ordinances, and provide services (Missouri Revised Statutes, Title VII, Chapter 71).

The 88 incorporated municipalities in St. Louis County range dramatically in size. Chesterfield, with a population exceeding 47,000, functions as a full-service city with its own planning, public works, and police departments. At the opposite end, municipalities such as Champ, with fewer than 15 residents recorded in recent census counts, exist primarily as legal entities with minimal administrative capacity. Between these extremes sit middle-tier cities like Kirkwood, Florissant, and University City, each operating distinct municipal governments with elected councils, appointed administrators, and independent budgets.

Scope limitations: This page covers only incorporated municipalities within St. Louis County, Missouri. St. Louis City — which separated from the county in 1876 — is an independent jurisdiction and is not part of St. Louis County government. For an analysis of that separation and its continuing structural implications, see the St. Louis City-County separation reference. Municipalities in Illinois metro counties, including Madison and St. Clair counties, fall outside this coverage; those jurisdictions are addressed separately under St. Louis Illinois metro counties. Unincorporated areas of St. Louis County — governed directly by the county rather than any municipality — are also not covered here; that topic is addressed at St. Louis unincorporated areas.

How it works

Each municipality in St. Louis County operates under one of three structural forms authorized by Missouri law:

  1. Constitutional Charter Cities — Cities with populations of 5,000 or more may adopt a home-rule charter under Article VI of the Missouri Constitution, granting broader autonomy over internal governance, taxation, and service delivery. Clayton, the St. Louis County seat at roughly 17,000 residents, operates under this form. See Clayton Missouri government for specifics.

  2. Fourth-Class Cities and Towns — The most common structural form for smaller municipalities. These entities operate under statutory authority defined in Missouri Revised Statutes Chapter 79 and are governed by a mayor and board of aldermen or trustees.

  3. Villages — The simplest statutory form, governed under Missouri Revised Statutes Chapter 80, typically used by communities with fewer than 500 residents.

Regardless of form, each municipality has the authority to:

Municipal elections are administered through the St. Louis County Board of Elections, which coordinates candidate filing deadlines, polling locations, and ballot certification for all 88 municipalities.

The St. Louis County government structure sits alongside — not above — these municipalities for most purposes. The county provides certain services countywide (including the St. Louis County Police Department in areas that contract for it), but municipalities that maintain their own police forces operate independently of county law enforcement command.

Common scenarios

Property tax layering: A property owner in Ferguson, for example, pays taxes to the municipality, the county, the Hazelwood School District, the St. Louis Metropolitan Sewer District, and potentially one or more special taxing districts — each with a separately levied millage rate. The municipal levy is set by the city's board of aldermen and is distinct from county levies set by the St. Louis County Council. See Ferguson Missouri government for that city's specific structure.

Municipal court jurisdiction: Each municipality may operate its own municipal court to adjudicate ordinance violations, traffic infractions, and minor offenses. Following the 2015 municipal court reforms enacted by the Missouri legislature (Missouri Senate Bill 5, 83rd General Assembly), municipalities are prohibited from generating more than 20% of their general operating revenue from fines and court costs (Missouri Revised Statutes §479.359). This cap was a direct legislative response to findings documented in the U.S. Department of Justice's 2015 investigation of Ferguson, Missouri. For broader context on municipal courts in the region, see St. Louis municipal court.

Zoning and land use: Municipalities control zoning within their boundaries under Missouri's statutory zoning enabling authority. A development proposal that crosses a municipal boundary — say, a commercial corridor spanning Kirkwood and Glendale — requires separate approval from each municipality's planning and zoning body. The St. Louis zoning code resource covers the city side of this dynamic; county-level overlay and unincorporated zoning is handled separately.

Service contracts: Smaller municipalities frequently contract with St. Louis County or neighboring cities for fire protection, animal control, and building inspection services rather than maintaining standalone departments. This is permissible under Missouri's Chapter 70 intergovernmental cooperation statutes (Missouri Revised Statutes, Chapter 70).

Decision boundaries

Understanding which government has authority requires applying a hierarchy:

Scenario Governing Authority
Ordinance violation within a municipality Municipal government and municipal court
Property assessment and valuation St. Louis County Assessor
County road vs. municipal street Determined by road jurisdiction designation
Public school district boundaries Independent school district boards (not municipality)
Countywide health regulations St. Louis County Departments
Regional transit service Metro Transit St. Louis / Bi-State Development Agency

The St. Louis Municipal League, a voluntary membership association representing municipalities across the county, provides coordination, legislative advocacy, and technical assistance to member cities. Membership is voluntary — not all 88 municipalities participate equally.

For matters affecting the full metropolitan area — spanning the city, county, and Illinois jurisdictions — the East-West Gateway Council of Governments serves as the designated Metropolitan Planning Organization and coordinates federally funded transportation and land use planning. That scope extends well beyond the 88 municipalities catalogued here.

A comprehensive entry point for the broader St. Louis governmental landscape is available at the site homepage, which maps the full range of civic institutions covered in this reference network.

References

Read Next

Kirkwood, Missouri: Local Government Overview ANA › United States Authority › Missouri State Authority › St. Florissant, Missouri: Local Government Overview ANA › United States Authority › Missouri State Authority › St. University City, Missouri: Local Government Overview Louis County operating under a council-manager form of municipal government, one of 88 incorporated municipalities within St.