St. Joseph is a city in Andrew and Buchanan counties and the county seat of Buchanan County, Missouri, United States. Located on the Missouri River, it is the principal city of the St. Joseph Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes Buchanan, Andrew, and DeKalb counties in Missouri and Doniphan County, Kansas. As of the 2020 census, St. Joseph had a total population of 72,473, making it the 8th most populous city in the state, and the 3rd most populous in Northwest Missouri. St. Joseph is located roughly thirty miles north of the Kansas City, Missouri, city limits and approximately 125 miles (201 km) south of Omaha, Nebraska. The city was named after the town's founder Joseph Robidoux and the biblical Saint Joseph. St. Joseph is home to Missouri Western State University. It is the birthplace of rapper and songwriter Eminem, who grew up in and has made his career in Detroit, Michigan. In the nineteenth century, it was the death place of American outlaw Jesse James. It was also the starting point of the Pony Express serving the West.