Creve Coeur, derived from French for "broken heart" (Crève Coeur), is a second-ring suburb of St. Louis, located in west St. Louis County. The population was 16,500 at the 2000 census. Creve Coeur borders and shares a zip code with the neighboring City of Town and Country.
The city derives its name from Creve Coeur Lake. It was incorporated in 1949. Although there are cabins that are more than 200 years old (including two still in Conway Park) in the community, it grew primarily as a stopping point along Olive Boulevard between University City, Missouri and Creve Coeur Lake. It expanded faster following construction of Interstate 270 and US Route 40
The lake and its associated park which was the first county park in St. Louis County is now part of Maryland Heights, Missouri to the west of Creve Coeur.
In 2006 it became the corporate headquarters of Isle of Capri Casinos.
There were 6,988 households out of which 25.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.6% were married couples living together, 4.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.1% were non-families. 30.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.29 and the average family size was 2.89.
In the city the population was spread out with 21.0% under the age of 18, 6.9% from 18 to 24, 25.0% from 25 to 44, 27.9% from 45 to 64, and 19.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females there were 93.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.5 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $75,032, and the median income for a family was $99,100. Males had a median income of $65,106 versus $39,102 for females. The per capita income for the city was $47,905. About 1.4% of families and 2.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.8% of those under age 18 and 2.7% of those age 65 or over.
Education
The western half of Creve Coeur is part of the public Parkway School District and is home to Parkway North High School, Fern Ridge High School, Parkway Northeast Middle School, Mason Ridge Elementary School (within the shared Creve Coeur zip code in the City of Town and Country), and Bellerive Elementary School. The eastern half is served by the Ladue School District with Spoede Elementary School within its city limits. Private schools include Saint Louis Priory School, De Smet Jesuit High School, Chaminade College Preparatory School, Whitfield School, Visitation Academy and Westminster Christian Academy.