Evoque St. Louis

St. Louis's economy spans biopharmaceuticals (Pfizer, Bayer's agribusiness), defense (Boeing's military aircraft division), Edward Jones financial services, freight and rail (Union Pacific), and Anheuser-Busch InBev's continued local presence. Data centers serve those enterprise tenants — six tracked facilities including TierPoint's headquarters operations and roughly 1,150 NAICS 518 jobs (estimated). The metro is a mid-tier Midwest market.

The standout trades number is the electrician wage: $77,170 median across 5,920 workers, well above national and anchored by IBEW Local 1's strong commercial market hold. HVAC technicians earn $63,000 — a wide gap from electricians, but HVAC apprenticeships take a fraction of the time and the metro's hospital systems and pharma facilities provide steady non-data-center work. The 13,170 maintenance workforce is deep relative to metro size.

For a trades worker, St. Louis is a union-friendly market with strong electrician wages and a deep maintenance pipeline. Best fit for IBEW electricians and for maintenance workers who can pivot from broader industrial work into facility tech roles. The cost of living is among the lowest of any major metro on this list.