A typical home in each town, bought with 20% down at 6.3% for 30 years, plus property tax at the town’s own rate and insurance. Change the numbers to fit you.

Down paymentRate%

Fenton$2,210/mo

Typical home $354K (Zillow) · tax rate 1.18% · or rent about $1,622/mo · Housing →

Sunset Hills$3,790/mo

Typical home $628K (Zillow) · tax rate 0.96% · Housing →

The difference: $1,590 a month, about $19,100 a year, between Sunset Hills and Fenton.

Estimates, not a quote: your price, rate, tax bill and insurance will differ. Tax rate = the Census median tax bill over the median home value.

Where they are

Fenton and Sunset Hills share a border

And the people who already live in one and work in the other.

FentonSunset Hills

Fenton ↔ Sunset Hills2.2 miles apart · They share a border

Who commutes between them

95 Sunset Hills residents work in Fenton (2.5% of its workers)

47 Fenton residents work in Sunset Hills (2.4% of its workers)

Work & commute in Sunset Hills →

Report cards

Sunset Hills places higher on 11 of 18 MO lists

Our letter grades for safety, schools and health, then every Missouri ranking list both towns are on. A grade is one measure; read the page behind it.

Safety

–FentonNot graded B−Sunset HillsSafer than 54% of U.S. towns

Schools

AFentonBetter than 90% of districts in the state A−Sunset HillsBetter than 84% of districts in the state

Health

A−FentonHealthier than 84% of U.S. towns ASunset HillsHealthier than 88% of U.S. towns

5Fenton

11Sunset Hills

Lists won, of 18 where both are ranked. Ties go to nobody.

Best schoolsSchools · 226 towns #39#137 Fastest growingGrowth · 260 towns #159#60 Shortest commuteGetting around · 261 towns #190#115 Most trailsOutdoors · 151 towns #32#2 Lowest depressionHealth · 261 towns #51#7 Most conserved landOutdoors · 235 towns #9#44 Most remote workersWork · 255 towns #73#37 Closest to a top hospitalHealth · 261 towns #11#46

Left end = #1 in Missouri. Showing the lists where the towns are furthest apart. All of Fenton’s rankings →

Life in each

What daily life feels like in each

The weather, the land, the history and the people, row by row. None of it is a grade: more snow is a plus to a skier.

Seasons

FentonSunset Hills

Snow a year10″10″

Hazard risk (U.S. pctl)62nd 50th

Outdoors & history

FentonSunset Hills

Trails6 mi 23 mi

Conserved land13.5%4.9%

Settled1818 1957

National Register places1 3

Archive photos18 8

Famous people born here6 —

Community

FentonSunset Hills

Colleges in town1 —

Posts this month0 0

Neighbors joined0 0

A dot marks the most on each row. Climate: NOAA 1991–2020 normals at the nearest station. Hazard risk: FEMA National Risk Index, expected yearly damage vs U.S. towns.

Everything, side by side

What matters to you?

Pick a few. Those rows jump to the top and the best fit on each is marked. There’s no overall score: what matters is up to you.

Only big differences vs Missouri average

FentonSunset Hills

People

Population 4,088Lowest 9,112Highest

Growth since 20102010 → 2020 census -0.8%Lowest MO: +2.8% +8.3%Highest MO: +2.8%

Median age 48±5.5Lowest 23% above MO 51.1±3.9Highest 31% above MO

Sunset Hills and Fenton are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Kids under 18 18.8%±4.1Lowest MO: 22.3% 20.1%±3.4Highest MO: 22.3%

Sunset Hills and Fenton are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Age 65+ 23.2%±3.9Lowest MO: 17.9% 29.2%±3.4Highest MO: 17.9%

Sunset Hills and Fenton are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Bachelor’s degree+adults 25+ 49.3%Lowest MO: 32.4% 62.4%Highest MO: 32.4%

Enrolled in collegeshare of residents 4.6%±2.4Lowest MO: 5.7% 5.4%±2.5Highest MO: 5.7%

Sunset Hills and Fenton are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Cost of living

Household incomemedian $101,000±$7kLowest 43% above MO $138,144±$31kHighest 95% above MO

Sunset Hills and Fenton are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Home valuemedian, owner-occupied $374,500±$20kLowest 63% above MO $523,800±$47kHighest 127% above MO

Rentmedian gross, monthly $1,622±$131 57% above MO —

Property taxmedian, yearly $4,408Lowest 126% above MO $5,031Highest 158% above MO

Renters paying 30%+of income on rent 21.3%±13.7Lowest MO: 45.6% 81.2%±22.9Highest MO: 45.6%

Below poverty line 3.5%Lowest MO: 12.6% 3.7%Highest MO: 12.6%

Housing

Homeownersof occupied homes 82.6%Lowest MO: 68.1% 82.9%Highest MO: 68.1%

Typical home builtmedian year 1989Highest 11 yrs newer than MO 1979Lowest 1 yr newer than MO

Getting to work

Average commuteone way 25 minHighest 6% above MO 21 minLowest 9% below MO

Work from home 13.4%±4.2Lowest MO: 13% 18.3%±3.9Highest MO: 13%

Sunset Hills and Fenton are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Work in townworking residents 8.2%Highest 5.1%Lowest

Typical commute distancemedian, straight-line 10.8 miHighest 9.8 miLowest

Jobs per working residentover 1.5 = a job hub 10.20Highest 2.81Lowest

Top workplaceoutside town St. Louis (16%)St. Louis (21%)

Between these townsresidents who work in the others 2% work in Sunset Hills3% work in Fenton

Outdoors

Conserved landshare of the town 13.5%Highest 4.9%Lowest

Trailsmapped miles 5.5 miLowest 22.8 miHighest

Trail densitymiles per sq mi 0.8 miLowest 2.5 miHighest

Parks & preservesnamed on the map 6Lowest 7Highest

Street connectivityintersections per sq mi, a walkability measure 51.8Lowest 58.9Highest

Schools

Public school scoresrank in state, math + reading #39 of 226 in MO #137 of 226 in MO

School district ROCKWOOD R-VILINDBERGH SCHOOLS · SPECL. SCH. DST. ST. LOUIS CO.

High school in town None in townSouth Technical

Students per teacherat that high school — 25.1

Missouri average“±” Census margin of errorACS 2020–2024

Deciding?

Ask the people who live there

The numbers stop at the town line. Neighbors can tell you about the commute at 7am, the schools, the winters and the feel of the place.

Fenton neighborsTown Square →

Your question goes to Fenton’s Town Square.

Sunset Hills neighborsTown Square →

Your question goes to Sunset Hills’s Town Square.

Add a town

Set another town beside Fenton and Sunset Hills

One tap adds it. Up to 4 towns at once.

Bordering Fenton

+ Compare

Murphy8,285 people · $185K homes

Towns like Fenton

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Village of Four Seasons2,252 people · $365K homes

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Weldon Spring5,310 people · $544K homes

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Cottleville5,937 people · $435K homes

+ Compare

Battlefield6,165 people · $256K homes

Not sure which town to add? Find your place ranks Missouri towns on what matters to you.Find your place →

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2010 & 2020 censuses, LEHD commute flows; Zillow Home Value Index; NCES Common Core of Data; FBI crime reporting; CDC PLACES; FEMA National Risk Index; NOAA U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020; USGS PAD-US and OpenStreetMap. “±” is the Census margin of error; differences inside it are never called. Property tax is top-coded by the Census at $10,000+. There is no overall score: which town is better depends on what matters to you.

Fenton vs Sunset Hills

Two towns, two different strengths

Where they part ways

A typical home costs $1,590 more a month in Sunset Hills

Fenton and Sunset Hills share a border

Sunset Hills places higher on 11 of 18 MO lists

What daily life feels like in each

What matters to you?

Ask the people who live there

Set another town beside Fenton and Sunset Hills

Bordering Fenton

Towns like Fenton

Post to Fenton

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