St. Louis Map
St. Louis stands on the west bank of the Mississippi a few miles below the mouth of the Missouri, and since 1876 it has been a city belonging to no county at all.
Where is St. Louis?
St. Louis is on the eastern edge of Missouri, with Illinois directly across the Mississippi River. It is about 250 miles east of Kansas City on Interstate 70, roughly 240 miles west of Indianapolis, and some 290 miles southwest of Chicago. Memphis lies about 285 miles downriver to the south. The city limits are small and fixed — the built-up area spills far past them into St. Louis County and across the river into Illinois.
St. Louis at a glance
| State | Missouri |
| County | None — St. Louis is an independent city, outside any county |
| Population | 279,695 (2024 Census estimate) |
| Rank among US cities | No. 80 of the 100 largest |
| Time zone | Central Time |
| Region | Midwest (West North Central division) |
St. Louis in Missouri
The city separated from St. Louis County in 1876 and has been independent ever since, which is why it appears as its own unit on the Missouri county map beside 114 counties. That decision froze the city boundary at 62 square miles and left almost all subsequent suburban growth outside it — the single most important fact about how the region is governed. Kansas City, at the far western end of the state, is now the larger city; Jefferson City, the capital, sits between them on the Missouri River. The Missouri state page covers the split.
Below the confluence
The Missouri River joins the Mississippi about 15 miles upstream of downtown, and the Meramec comes in from the southwest just below the city. That junction is the reason for the site: everything moving between the Ohio valley, the Great Plains and the Gulf had to pass here, and the fur trade, then the steamboat trade, then the railroads all used it. The Eads Bridge, one of the first large steel bridges anywhere, was built to carry rail traffic across the river at St. Louis. The bluffs on the Illinois side rise sharply while the Missouri bank is lower, and the American Bottom floodplain opposite the city floods when the river is high.
Cities near St. Louis
Up and down the rivers are Kansas City, Memphis, Chicago, Indianapolis and Louisville. For the river itself, see the Mississippi River page.