St. Louis City Guide
ABA Programs in St. Louis
St. Louis has two ABA master's, a county-wide special education district that exists almost nowhere else in the country, and housing that costs a fifth less than the national average. This guide covers both ABA programs in St. Louis, Missouri's licensing requirement and its unusual continuing education rule, and why the real value of a St. Louis salary is a good deal higher than the number suggests.
Key Takeaways
- 01Two ABA master's serve the metro and they are opposites. UMSL runs a 39-credit on-campus cohort M.S. with ten credits of integrated practicum and a required six-credit thesis; Webster University runs a 33-credit online M.A. in eight-week terms.
- 02Webster's M.A. is recognized at Tier 2A under ABAI's Tiered Model of Education — a reviewed status short of accreditation, and the only ABAI status held by a St. Louis program.
- 03Missouri requires two hours of suicide assessment training at initial licensure and at every biennial renewal, under House Bill 1719. Very few states have this, and it catches people out at renewal.
- 04The Special School District of St. Louis County is a separate, county-wide district that provides special education for twenty-two component districts. It is one of the largest single employers of behavior support staff in the state and has no equivalent in most metros.
- 05Housing here runs 21% below the national average on the BEA index — the third-cheapest of the fifty metros on this site — so the $58,570 median is worth about $61,588 in national terms, more than New York, Boston or San Francisco manage.
St. Louis is an unusually good-value place to train as a behavior analyst, and the reason is mostly what the money does rather than how much of it there is. The metro median of $58,570 is a little below the national figure. The metro's overall price level is 4.9% below the national average and its housing costs 21% less, so the same salary buys considerably more than it does almost anywhere on either coast.
The two programs divide neatly. The University of Missouri-St. Louis runs a 39-credit on-campus cohort M.S. in Applied Behavior Analysis with ten credits of practicum built into the degree and a required six-credit thesis — a research-weighted program that suits someone considering a doctorate. Webster University, in Webster Groves, runs a 33-credit online M.A. in eight-week terms with no embedded fieldwork, and its degree is recognized at Tier 2A under ABAI's Tiered Model of Education.
Missouri has licensed behavior analysts since 2010 and runs everything through MOPRO, its online registration system, which took over for behavior analysts in January 2025. The requirement that surprises people is the continuing education rule: two hours of suicide assessment, referral, treatment and management training at initial licensure and at every biennial renewal, under a 2018 law that covers several Missouri mental health professions.
Metro scope
Includes: St. Louis, St. Charles, Chesterfield, Florissant, O'Fallon, Kirkwood, Belleville, Edwardsville. The St. Louis metro, which spans the Mississippi into Illinois — the city and St. Louis County to the west, St. Charles County beyond that, and the Metro East counties of Madison and St. Clair on the Illinois side through Belleville and Edwardsville.
Note: This metro crosses a state line and both states license, so the border is a real professional boundary. Missouri licenses behavior analysts through the Missouri Behavior Analyst Advisory Board and has since 2010; Illinois licenses through its Department of Financial and Professional Regulation and has since 2022. A caseload that reaches Belleville or Edwardsville from a St. Louis base needs both credentials. Missouri adds one requirement most states do not: House Bill 1719, effective August 28, 2018, requires at least two hours of suicide assessment, referral, treatment and management training at initial licensure and again at every biennial renewal. Applications and renewals run through MOPRO, the state's online professional registration system, which took over for behavior analysts in January 2025.
The programs
Every one of the BCBA programs in St. Louis and the metro
2 programs
University of Missouri-St. Louis — M.S. in Applied Behavior Analysis
UMSL campus, north St. Louis County · St. Louis, MO · On-campus; two MetroLink stations serve the campus directly
- Tuition
- $751 per credit hour in-state, $1,712 per credit hour out-of-state
- Length
- 39 credits, 2 years as a cohort
- Format
- On-campus cohort
- Accreditation
- BCBA coursework sequence with integrated practicum; UMSL Department of Psychological Sciences
- Part-time
- Cohort structure; the thesis requirement assumes continuous enrollment
- Ten of the 39 credits are integrated practicum, so supervised experience accrues inside the degree
- A six-credit thesis is required, which is unusual at master's level and matters if a doctorate is in your plans
- Two MetroLink light rail stations serve the UMSL campus, which is rare for an American university
- The out-of-state rate of $1,712 per credit is more than double the in-state figure; establish Missouri residency if you can
- A cohort program with a research requirement is a serious time commitment — this is not the route if you need to keep a full working week
Webster University — M.A. in Applied Behavior Analysis
Webster Groves; delivered online · Webster Groves, MO · No commute; online delivery in eight-week terms
- Tuition
- Published per-credit rates are on the Webster University tuition page; confirm the current School of Education rate
- Length
- 33 credits, about 2 years
- Format
- Online, in eight-week terms
- Accreditation
- Recognized as Tier 2A under ABAI's Tiered Model of Education; Webster University School of Education
- Part-time
- Eight-week terms and a one-course-at-a-time structure built for working professionals
- The university states the degree "is recognized as Tier 2A by the Association for Behavior Analysis International" — recognition under the Tiered Model, not accreditation
- Webster states the coursework "will qualify you to sit for the Board Certified Behavior Analyst Examination"
- At 33 credits it is six fewer than UMSL, and eight-week terms make the pacing flexible
- Supervised fieldwork is not embedded, so you arrange it separately — which in this metro is straightforward
- Webster also offers a 21-credit graduate certificate in ABA and an 18-credit certificate combining ABA with organizational behavior management
Cost of living
What it costs to live in St. Louis while you study
St. Louis is one of the cheapest large metros in the United States and the housing figure is the reason: 21% below the national average on the BEA index, the third-lowest of the fifty metros on this site. The whole basket runs 4.9% below national. What the metro gives you alongside that is a light rail system that actually reaches a university campus, which is close to unique among American public universities.
Housing, 2024
79.0
21.0% below the national average
Everything, 2024
95.1
4.9% below the national average
Metro median pay covers
$61,588
of national-average spending
Housing runs 21.0% below the national average, which is less of a factor here than the rest of the basket.
Both figures are BEA Regional Price Parities for St. Louis, MO-IL, 2024, where the national average is 100. Housing is the services-housing component; the second figure is the whole basket.
Housing price level
21.0% below the national average
BEA Regional Price Parity for housing, 2024 — third-cheapest of the fifty metros in this guide
All-items price level
4.9% below the national average
BEA Regional Price Parity, all items, 2024
Transit
MetroLink light rail and MetroBus
Two MetroLink stations serve the UMSL campus; suburban and Metro East coverage is limited
Car
Required for fieldwork
A bi-state metro reaching from St. Charles County to Belleville
Cross-border commute
Belleville and Edwardsville, IL
Inside the commuting metro but a separate Illinois license
Tuition, UMSL M.S. (in-state)
$751 per credit hour
$1,712 per credit hour out-of-state; 39 credits
Missouri CE requirement
2 hours suicide assessment training
At initial licensure and every biennial renewal, under House Bill 1719
Clinical fieldwork
BCBA certification in St. Louis: where metro students do supervised fieldwork
St. Louis has a distinctive placement landscape because of one institution that most metros simply do not have. The Special School District of St. Louis County provides special education for twenty-two component districts across the county — a single, county-wide special education authority rather than twenty-two separate programs. For a trainee that means one very large organization to approach rather than a patchwork, and for an employer it means scale.
Special School District of St. Louis County
SSD delivers special education services to twenty-two component districts across St. Louis County and runs its own schools, making it one of the largest employers of behavior support staff in Missouri.
Washington University IDDRC
The Washington University in St. Louis Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center is one of the federally funded IDDRC network centers, giving the metro a research tier most cities its size lack.
St. Louis Children's Hospital and SSM Health Cardinal Glennon
St. Louis Children's Hospital, part of BJC and affiliated with Washington University, and SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital give the metro two separate pediatric systems.
Judevine Center for Autism
Judevine Center for Autism is a long-established St. Louis nonprofit delivering autism services across the region, and one of the metro's established behavior-analytic employers.
UMSL integrated practicum
UMSL builds ten credits of practicum into its 39-credit M.S., so its students accrue supervised experience through department-arranged placements rather than finding sites alone.
Hiring market
Major ABA employers across the St. Louis metro
The St. Louis employer market has an unusual middle. Most metros run agency-heavy, with school district and hospital employment at the edges. Here the Special School District is a single very large public employer of behavior support staff, two separate pediatric hospital systems compete for clinical staff, and Washington University adds a research tier. The agency layer exists but it is not the only game, which tends to hold pay up.
Special School District of St. Louis County
County-wide special education district
Provides special education for twenty-two component districts across St. Louis County and operates its own schools. A structure that exists in very few places, and a major employer of behavior specialists.
St. Louis Children's Hospital
Pediatric academic medical center
Part of BJC HealthCare and affiliated with Washington University School of Medicine, hiring into developmental and behavioral services.
SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital
Pediatric hospital
The metro's second pediatric system, affiliated with Saint Louis University, giving St. Louis two competing children's hospitals rather than one.
Judevine Center for Autism
Nonprofit autism services provider
A long-established regional nonprofit delivering autism services and training across the St. Louis area.
Washington University in St. Louis
Research university and IDDRC host
Hosts one of the federally funded Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Centers, which gives the metro a research-affiliated career route.
Metro pay
BCBA salary in the St. Louis metro
Metro median
$58,570
National median
$59,350
10th percentile
$38,580
90th percentile
$91,600
BLS metro median, May 2025
$58,570
$780 below the national median
Cost of living, 2024
95.1
4.9% below the national average
Worth nationally
$61,588
the same pay in national-average dollars
Because prices run 4.9% below the national average, $58,570 here goes about as far as $61,588 would nationally.
BLS does not publish a separate occupation for behavior analysts. This is the May 2025 median for SOC 21-1018 (Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors), the category BCBAs are counted in, which also contains counseling roles that typically pay less. Read it as a floor for the metro, not as BCBA pay. Wages: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, St. Louis, MO-IL. Cost of living is the BEA Regional Price Parity for the metro, all items, 2024, where the national average is 100. It is the most recent year BEA publishes, so it sits one year behind the wage figure. Prices: BEA Regional Price Parities.
The published figure for this metro is $58,570, the BLS OEWS May 2025 median for SOC 21-1018, Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors, across the St. Louis metro. That is $780 below the national median of $59,350 for the same code. BLS publishes no separate occupation for behavior analysts, and SOC 21-1018 also contains counseling roles requiring neither a master's nor board certification, so read $58,570 as a floor rather than as BCBA pay.
Then the adjustment, which is where St. Louis earns its place. Prices across the metro run 4.9% below the national average, so $58,570 here goes about as far as $61,588 would nationally. That real figure beats New York ($54,192), Boston ($57,368), San Francisco ($59,170) and Los Angeles ($45,695), every one of which pays more in nominal terms. Housing alone runs 21% below the national average, the third-cheapest in this guide.
The 10th percentile is $38,580 and the 90th is $91,600. The floor is low, which is the one real weakness in the numbers here — an early-career position in St. Louis can pay poorly in absolute terms even after the cost adjustment. The ceiling is respectable. The practical read: this is a metro where an experienced, credentialed behavior analyst does genuinely well and where a first job needs negotiating. For national context see our BCBA salary guide.
Other cities
Other cities in Missouri
We also cover one other metro in Missouri. If you can commute, comparing them is worth ten minutes — the program list changes, but so does the fieldwork market, and that is the half your location actually constrains.
Nearby metros
If you are flexible on metro
The Missouri and mid-Mississippi alternatives all share the same cost advantage and differ in what they train. Kansas City is the other end of the state; Chicago is the region's deep program market; Memphis is down the river at a lower cost still.
ABA Programs in Kansas City
The other end of Missouri, with the same license and CE rule, a higher metro median and a $107,520 top decile.
ABA Programs in Chicago
Five hours northeast, with an ABAI-accredited master's and the Midwest's deepest program market.
ABA Programs in Missouri
The full state picture: every Missouri program, the MOPRO application process, and the suicide-assessment CE requirement.
Common questions
Frequently Asked Questions
01How many ABA programs are in St. Louis?+
02Do I need a license to practice ABA in St. Louis?+
03What is the Special School District and why does it matter?+
04How much do BCBAs make in St. Louis?+
05Where do St. Louis ABA students do supervised fieldwork?+
06Is St. Louis a good place to start a BCBA career?+
Sources
- University of Missouri-St. Louis, M.S. in Applied Behavior Analysis
- Webster University, M.A. in Applied Behavior Analysis
- Missouri Division of Professional Registration, Behavior Analyst Advisory Board
- BACB, U.S. Licensure of Behavior Analysts by State
- BLS OEWS May 2025, St. Louis MSA (SOC 21-1018)
- Washington University in St. Louis Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center
- Special School District of St. Louis County
- ABAI Accredited Programs Directory