Flooring across Missouri
Ten cities, ten different housing stocks, and ten different answers to the same question. Every figure here is that city's own Census number.
Oldest housing stock first
Median year built and the share of homes predating 1940, by city, alongside the surrounding county. The gap between the two columns on the right is the story in half these places.
| City | Median year built | Built before 1940 | County median |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. Louis | 1938 | 57.9% | St. Louis — 1955 |
| St. Joseph | 1962 | 27.5% | Buchanan County — 1968 |
| Independence | 1967 | 13.2% | Jackson County — 1974 |
| Kansas City | 1969 | 21.3% | Jackson County — 1974 |
| Springfield | 1975 | 12.8% | Greene County — 1985 |
| St. Charles | 1986 | 6.8% | St. Charles County — 1994 |
| Blue Springs | 1986 | 1.6% | Jackson County — 1974 |
| Columbia | 1993 | 4.4% | Boone County — 1994 |
| Lee’s Summit | 1994 | 3.1% | Jackson County — 1974 |
| O’Fallon | 2000 | 0.8% | St. Charles County — 1994 |
Housing figures for this page: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates, tables B25034 and B25035.
Pick your city
Each page covers that city's housing stock, what it does to a floor, and installed cost ranges adjusted for regional labor.
Why the city matters more than you would think
St. Louis’s median house was built in 1938, with 57.9% of it predating 1940. O’Fallon’s was built in 2000, with 0.8% predating 1940. Those are the same state and a sixty-two-year gap, and they are not the same job — one has had ninety years of seasonal ground movement and has found its level, and the other is on graded clay that is still finding its.
That gap is the whole reason this site asks one question before any other: has the ground under this house finished moving, or has it not? A settled house needs a one-off leveling job and can then take any material, including tile. A house still working through its first seasonal cycles needs a floor that tolerates movement. Housing age is the best clue available, which is why every city page here leads with it.
Questions people actually ask
My floor is not level. Is that a problem?
Not by itself, and in Missouri it is common. The question is whether it is still moving. A house that settled decades ago has found its level: the floor can be brought flat with levelling compound and then take any material. A newer house on graded clay may still be working through its first seasonal cycles, and there the sensible answer is a floor that tolerates a little movement. Neither case means anything is wrong with the house.
Why does tile crack here and vinyl plank does not?
Because tile is bonded to the substrate and vinyl plank usually floats on it. A bonded assembly has to move exactly as much as whatever it is stuck to, and when it cannot, the stress goes into the grout and the tile. A floating floor is not attached, so small substrate movement passes underneath it. If you want tile over ground that moves, the answer is an uncoupling membrane and a properly flat substrate, and it is worth paying for both rather than hoping.
How flat does my floor actually need to be?
Most plank manufacturers specify around 3/16 in over 10 ft, and tile — particularly large-format — wants closer to 1/8 in over 10 ft. Lay a ten-foot straightedge on the floor and measure the biggest gap under it. That one measurement decides whether you are buying a floor or a floor plus a levelling job, and knowing it before you get quotes is worth more than any other ten minutes you will spend.
Does the whole state have this problem?
No, and the difference is worth knowing. The heaviest expansive clay runs through the western counties, from Kansas City south. St. Louis sees it mostly through clay backfill around foundations. Central Missouri transitions to loess and glacial deposits with moderate shrink-swell. Springfield and the Ozarks trade it for shallow bedrock and chert, which is a different substrate problem rather than the same one.
Should I level the floor or just lay over it?
It depends on how far out it is and what you are laying. Small deviations disappear under carpet and are tolerated by most floating floors. Anything approaching the manufacturer's tolerance needs correcting first, and anything bonded — tile, stone, glued plank — needs it correcting properly. Laying a rigid floor over a substrate that fails the flatness spec is the single most common way a new floor fails early.
Do flooring installers in Missouri need a license?
Missouri has no statewide contractor license. Licensing is local, and cities including St. Louis and Kansas City run their own registration schemes, so requirements depend on where the work is. That is a footnote rather than a test: flooring is finish work, and an installer without a state license is the normal case here, not a warning sign. What actually separates two quotes is whether the installer measured the floor.