Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 3,083, incorporated in 1853.
Gillespie gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $117K, 1.5 years of the St. Louis metro’s $80K median household income. It grades C+ overall, 508th among Illinois's 767 graded towns. 17% of residents live below the poverty line in Gillespie, against 8.4% in Illinois’ towns and 9.6% across U.S. towns. Gillespie's schools rank behind 72% of the state's.
Where Gillespie beats most towns.
Where Gillespie’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far Gillespie is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 432 in 1880, a peak of 5,111 in 1930, 3,168 in 2020. The archive holds 5 old photos and papers going back to 1880 and 2 maps from 1912 on.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Gillespie, 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 Gillespie.
Homes are within reach (about $117K for the typical one, A+ for cost of living), but half of working residents commute more than 27 miles. At 1.5 years of the St. Louis metro’s $80K median household income, the typical home (about $117K) costs less against local pay than in 93% of Illinois towns; that ratio is one input to its A+ for cost of living.
The median rent in Gillespie is $750 a month. Typical home values fell 9.5% in the year to September 2026.
| Gillespie | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $750 a month | $1,129 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 73% | 75% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Most working residents leave Gillespie for work: only 9% work in town. Gillespie’s average trip to work is 28 minutes. Since 2013, Gillespie has lost 39 jobs, to 663 in 2023.
| Gillespie | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 28 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $83,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Gillespie beats the Illinois average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 10. 15% of Gillespie adults report frequent physical distress.
| Gillespie | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 13% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 17% | 17% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 37% | 35% | 35% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 18% | 19% |
| What stands out | Gillespie | IL |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 18% | 10.3% |
| More adults with COPD | 9.4% | 6.3% |
| More smokers | 17% | 12.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Gillespie has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 87°, January nights drop to 21° and about 14 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 52% of U.S. communities. Since 1982, 5 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Gillespie.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
0.3 miles of trail in 1 park or preserve.
| Gillespie | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 1% | 3.7% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Big Brick | — | 2 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
1 within 15 miles of the center of Gillespie
About 3 of every 100 Gillespie residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Illinois.
6 notable people were born in Gillespie.
City in Illinois, United States
Gillespie is a city in Macoupin County, Illinois, United States, and part of the Metro East region of the St. Louis metropolitan area. The population was 3,168 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Gillespie.
| Town | IL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gillespie | #508 | C+ | A+ | — | C | C |
| East Gillespie | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Gillespie reports no FBI crime data of its own. East Gillespie isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Gillespie with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Gillespie grades C+ overall, better than 44% of U.S. towns and #508 of 767 in Illinois. It grades C for health and C for schools.
Not for the area. 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+.
Gillespie was incorporated in 1853. 6 notable people were born here, including Howard Keel and Ferras.