NAICS 52

Finance and Insurance in St. Louis, MO

Metro Market Score 74.2 (Difficult), ranked #311 of 331 metros. 4,679 establishments, 60,919 jobs.

Metro Market Score 74.2

Favorable 0-35

Moderate 35-48

Challenging 48-60

Difficult 60+

Difficult

ⓘ Lower is better. Relative to national finance and insurance average.

💰High-Cost Market

Market conditions for finance and insurance in St. Louis are tougher than average. The 74.2 market score reflects a combination of high labor costs, slowing employment, and an already crowded field. Rank: #311 of 331 metros.

Industry Concentration

90.6

LQ: 1.13

Rank #300 of 331 metros

Wage Competitiveness

84.3

$112,896 avg wage

Growth Trend

↓ 28.7

Employment growth index

Rank #237 of 331 metros

Wage Pressure

45.5

YoY wage change index

4,679 Finance and Insurance Firms in St. Louis

4,679

Establishments

-3.0% YoY

60,919

Total Employment

-3.1% YoY

$112,896

Average Annual Wage

+6.0% YoY

1.13

Location Quotient

Above national avg

Within Missouri

#4 of 4

finance and insurance metros in state

Missouri state rank

#43 of 51

for finance and insurance entry risk

vs State Median

+2.0

worse than median (72.3)

St. Louis vs Missouri Statewide

How this metro's finance and insurance market compares to Missouri overall. The state ranks #43/51 for entry risk.

Measure	St. Louis	MO Statewide
Overall Score	74.2 Difficult	57.7 High
Score Type	Metro Market Score	Entry Risk Score
Rank	#311 of 331 metros	#43 of 51 states

Metro and state scores use different methodologies (metro has 4 QCEW-based metrics; state adds BDS survival and momentum data). Direct score comparisons are approximate.

Other Industries in St. Louis

Retail Trade 47.5 Real Estate and Rental and Leasing 61.3

Finance and Insurance in Other Missouri Metros

Joplin 17.5 #3/331 Springfield 58.8 #238/331 Columbia 72.3 #304/331

Finance and Insurance Metros With Similar Conditions

Metros within 5 points of St. Louis's 74.2 score. Useful when comparing markets with comparable entry profiles.

Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI 74.4 #312/331 Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY 74.4 #313/331 Trenton-Princeton, NJ 74.4 #314/331 New Haven, CT 74.6 #315/331 Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA 74.8 #316/331 San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA 75.3 #317/331 Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX 75.3 #318/331 Madison, WI 72.8 #310/331 Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD 72.8 #309/331 Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL 72.7 #308/331

Finance and Insurance in States Bordering Missouri

State-level entry risk for finance and insurance in adjacent states. Use this to weigh cross-border options.

Kentucky 40.0 #3/51 Arkansas 44.7 #7/51 Illinois 46.2 #10/51 Nebraska 49.4 #20/51 Tennessee 53.4 #33/51 Iowa 54.3 #35/51 Kansas 57.0 #42/51 Oklahoma 64.9 #48/51

Browse Finance and Insurance in Other States

State-level entry risk reports for finance and insurance across all 51 markets, sorted by rank.

About Metro Market Score: A weighted composite of industry concentration (25%), wage competitiveness (25%), wage pressure (20%), and employment growth trend (30%). Lower scores indicate more favorable conditions. For St. Louis's finance and insurance sector, the industry concentration component (90.6) has the strongest pull on the composite. Metro scores use QCEW data only (no BDS survival data at metro level). Read full methodology →

Data Sources

Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW), Bureau of Labor Statistics. MSA-level establishment counts, employment, wages, and location quotients for the St. Louis, MO-IL MSA area.

Data period: 2024. Last updated: April 2026.

Metro Market Assessment