Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
East St. Louis’s lowest grade is for health: on CDC estimates, its residents' health ranks in the bottom 2% nationally. Taken together, its subjects give East St. Louis a D overall, better than 13% of U.S. towns. In the ranking it comes 695th of 767 in Illinois. Cost of living is where it shines (A): a typical home costs about $35K, less than a year of the St. Louis metro’s $80K median household income. It also trails on schools: its schools rank behind 89% of the state's. A third of residents live below the poverty line in the town, above both Illinois’ towns (8.4%) and U.S. towns (9.6%). Only 32 of Illinois’ 1,285 towns score lower on hazard risk. History is its standout character grade: an A, better than 93% of U.S. towns, with 7 places on the National Register.
Figures: home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · health, CDC PLACES · schools, state test and graduation results · FEMA National Risk Index.
Where East St. Louis beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Pennsylvania Avenue Historic District| Widest gap | East St. Louis | IL |
|---|---|---|
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 25.1% | 7.8% |
Its founding year, 1797, comes before those of 99% of the Illinois towns we grade with a known year.
Census counts: 5,044 in 1870, a peak of 82,366 in 1950, 18,469 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1876 and 6 maps from 1934 on.
7 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far East St. Louis is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around East St. Louis. Close and well known come first.
Big draw4 mi State parkCahokia
Big draw3 mi Stadium & arenaThe Dome at America's Center
3 mi Stadium & arenaBusch Stadium
2 mi National ParkGateway Arch National Park2.2M visitors a year
5 mi LandmarkMonks Mound
4 mi Stadium & arenaEnterprise CenterCahokia: Thank You (24 Millions ) views, CC BY 2.0 · The Dome at America's Center: Paul Sableman, CC BY 2.0 · Busch Stadium: Lee Ann Ratledge, CC BY 4.0 · Gateway Arch National Park: Daniel Schwen, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Monks Mound: Skubasteve834, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Enterprise Center: Haaron755, CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in East St. Louis, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Sep 12, 2025.
Ordered by what stands out in East St. Louis.
East St. Louis sends many workers across the state line and has homes that are cheap against local pay, but it carries more natural-hazard risk than most of Illinois (mostly inland flooding).
At 0.4 years of the St. Louis metro’s $80K median household income, the typical home (about $35K) costs less against local pay than in any other Illinois town; that ratio is one input to that grade. Values fell 2.8% in the past year while the Illinois typical home rose 5.3%.
Values fell 2.8% in the year to September 2026. East St. Louis’ going rate for rent comes in at $847 a month. The share of households in East St. Louis who live in a home they own: 61%.
| East St. Louis | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 61% | 75% | 73% |
| Median rent | $847 a month | $1,129 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Among adults in East St. Louis, 18% have been diagnosed with depression. No town among the 767 in Illinois we compare has a higher share of adults who smoke cigarettes than East St. Louis. CDC measures, 32 in all: East St. Louis beats Illinois on 4 and trails on 23.
| East St. Louis | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 36% | 18% | 19% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 13% | 14% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 52% | 37% | 35% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 24% | 11% | 12% |
| What stands out | East St. Louis | IL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer binge drinkers | 11% | 17.8% |
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 5.4% | 7.6% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 25.1% | 7.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 96% of Illinois towns, with expected losses of about $906 per resident a year; that rating is what its D for hazard risk is built on. 388 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 35 properties have flooded more than once.
Flood insurance has paid out on 388 claims in East St. Louis since 1978. East St. Louis’ FEMA hazard score stands at 86 of 100. Expected losses in East St. Louis break down as 45% from inland flooding and 32% from earthquakes. Federal disaster aid has reached households in East St. Louis after 4 declared disasters, most recently in 2024.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
29% of working residents cross a state line to work. Jobs based here fell from 5,645 in 2013 to 4,466.
Employers in East St. Louis shed 1,179 jobs between 2013 and 2023, to 4,466. In East St. Louis, the middle household income is $36,000. The top destinations are St. Louis (16%), Belleville (7%) and Fairview Heights (4%). For workers in the town, the share who work remotely from home is 7.6%.
| East St. Louis | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 33% | 8.4% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $36,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 7.6% | 11% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 23 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Count the trails in 10 parks and preserves and they come to 3.5 miles. The biggest park or preserve is Jones Park, at 60 acres. The density of trails for East St. Louis comes to 0.3 miles per square mile.
| East St. Louis | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.3 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 2.7% | 3.7% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Jones Park | 0.9 mi | 60 |
| 2. Malcolm W. Martin Memorial Park | 0.1 mi | 30 |
| 3. Lincoln Park | — | 15 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
A winter brings about 14 inches of snow, with January nights at 24° and July afternoons at 89°.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
17 within 15 miles of the center of East St. Louis
About 4 of every 100 East St. Louis residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Illinois.
27,006 counted in 2010 and 18,469 in 2020; an estimated 17,682 in 2025.
The decline has continued: down 4.4% since 2020, after 31.6% in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
7 places in East St. Louis on the National Register of Historic Places.
53 notable people were born in East St. Louis.
City in Illinois, United States
East St. Louis or East Saint Louis, also known as ESTL, is a city in St. Clair County, Illinois, United States. It is across the Mississippi River from downtown St. Louis, Missouri, and the Gateway Arch National Park. East St. Louis is in the Metro East region of Southern Illinois. East St. Louis was Illinois's fourth-largest city in 1950, when its population peaked at 82,366. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 18,469, less than one-quarter of the 1950 census and a decline of almost one-third since 2010.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
10 towns share a border with East St. Louis.
Fairview Heights next door grades higher for schools (B− to East St. Louis’s D) and lower for cost of living (B to A).
| Town | IL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| East St. Louis · East St. Louis Township | #695 | D | A | — | D | D− |
| Centreville Township | #721 | D | A− | — | D | D− |
| Canteen Township | #637 | C− | A | — | C− | D |
| Cahokia Heights | — | — | C | — | D | — |
| Belleville | #595 | C | B | C− | B− | C+ |
| Washington Park | — | — | A− | — | D− | D− |
| Fairmont City | — | — | A | B− | C− | D |
| Fairview Heights | #568 | C | B | D | B− | B− |
Washington Park and Fairmont City have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. East St. Louis, Centreville Township, Canteen Township, Cahokia Heights and Washington Park report no FBI crime data of their own. Cahokia Heights isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). East St. Louis Township and East St. Louis are one community, graded once. Compare East St. Louis with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
East St. Louis grades D overall, better than 13% of U.S. towns and #695 of 767 in Illinois. It grades D− for health and D for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a D−.
Not for the area. That is 0.4 years of the area's median household income ($80,196 across the St. Louis, MO-IL metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades A.
53 notable people were born here, including Jimmy Connors and Jackie Joyner-Kersee.
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