Hi Nancy, I haven't lived or even been in St. Louis but I have several friends that were born and raised in St. Louis. They all live in CA now. They go back to St. Louis to visit various family members..but they always complain about the weather.

Hopefully Fodorites in St. Louis will give you their thoughts.

How did you find DC? I had family members that use to live in Falls Church, VA and they complained about the weather. They now live in Portland, OR..and have always been happier.

It is so humid in St. Louis that you need a dehumidifier to grow mushrooms.

NancyCo:

I grew up in St. Louis and currently live in South Florida. Yes, St. Louis can be humid, but so is Florida...I guess you can say I'm used to that type of moisture...let's put it this way, it's better for your skin!

All kidding aside, I love to visit family in St. Louis during the Fall and Spring. I guess I'm kind of avoiding the subject here, but every place has its thing...Florida has its hurricanes (let's not say that too loudly).

Its very humid. I too have lived in South Fla and St. Louis ( and also Denver for a few years) and St. Louis is by far much more humid than South Fla. St. Louis also has the heat index thing where it feels much hotter than it really is. It might only be 95 but it feels like 105. Follow weather.com for a little while and you will get a better feel for how hot St. Louis is in the summer.

The other thing I forgot to mention is there is always a nice breeze in South Fla, especially if you are near a coast. That keeps things a little nicer. Plus there is usually an afternoon shower to sorta cool things off. St. Louis has neither.

Compared to Denver, Los Angeles and San Antonio, St. Louis is very humid. Compared to D.C. and Bethesda, it is a little more humid.

I spent my first 18 years in Rockville, Md which is right next door to Bethesda and have spent the last 27 years in St. Louis. Both are humid. Personally, I think Bethesda may be a little worse although I doubt there's a significant difference. I was in Rockville one day when the weather guy came on and said it's 100% humidity today despite the full sun. I suspect you could consult the weather charts to learn the historical humidity averages.

That said, I wouldn't base my decision on the humidity factor because both are bad. I'd focus more on the big city vs medium city factors. St. Louis doesn't have near the traffic, the high cost of living, or the denseness that Bethesda/DC has. St. Louis has more of a friendly, slower paced feel to it. I much prefer St. Louis. But some folks prefer a big city environment and all the action that goes with it. Parts of Bethesda are quite nice. Hope this helps.

I grew up about 45 miles from St. Louis, in Illinois (and still visit family there several times a year). And I lived in DC for four years. I have to agree with dcd in that the weather is so similar that it's not the factor to use to decide between the two. At least not the summer weather. I do think the winters in St. Louis tend to be a bit worse. But, again, not a huge difference.

I agree with Caph52. I live in St.lous. It is just as hot and humid as DC/Maryland. We spend a lot of time in DC/ for pleasure and business. June was lovely here, did not have the AC on much at all. You just need to acclimate. I would look at other factors for a decision.
Schools, cost of living, interests, etc...