Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Granite City earns a D, 715th of 767 graded towns in Illinois, mostly because of schools and safety. Its schools rank behind 96% of the state's. Its police reported 203 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025, a higher rate per resident than 90% of U.S. towns. One bright spot: homes are within reach, about $115K for a typical one, or 1.4 years of the St. Louis metro’s $80K median household income. Granite City’s violent crime rate is 7.6 per 1,000 residents, against 1 in Illinois’ towns and 1.6 across U.S. towns. On hazard risk, just 38 of Illinois’ 1,285 towns do worse. Granite City has 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Emmert-Zippel House and Granite City YMCA.
Where Granite City beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far Granite City is from typical.
Its grades run from A for cost of living (better than 89% of comparable towns) to D− for schools (better than 4%), so the D overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 3,122 in 1900, a peak of 40,685 in 1970, 27,549 in 2020. The archive holds 2 old photos and papers and 7 maps from 1933 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Granite City. Close and well known come first.
Big draw6 mi State parkCahokia
Big draw8 mi Stadium & arenaThe Dome at America's Center
8 mi Stadium & arenaBusch Stadium
7 mi National ParkGateway Arch National Park2.2M visitors a year
6 mi LandmarkMonks Mound
8 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 Granite City, 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 Granite City.
Granite City sends many workers across the state line to St. Louis, but it reports violent crime at 3 times the Illinois rate and carries more natural-hazard risk than most of Illinois (mostly inland flooding).
At 1.4 years of the St. Louis metro’s $80K median household income, the typical home (about $115K) costs less against local pay than in 95% of Illinois towns; that ratio is one input to its A for cost of living. The median property tax bill is $2,062, against $5,298 across Illinois, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
Granite City’s median rent is $834 a month. The typical Granite City home is worth about $115,000, up 3.2% in a year, 61% below the Illinois typical home.
| Granite City | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $834 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
Violent crime runs at 7.6 per 1,000 residents, 3 times the Illinois rate; the Safety Grade counts each violent crime four times, so this weighs most on its D. Reported crimes rose from 736 to 910 over the last three FBI years, a rise beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
The property crime rate in Granite City is 26.5 per 1,000 residents. Granite City reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 90% report less.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 96% of Illinois towns, with expected losses of about $974 per resident a year; that rating is what its D for hazard risk is built on.
Since 1979, 104 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Granite City.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Granite City beats the Illinois average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 19. 16% of Granite City adults report frequent physical distress.
| Granite City | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 13% | 14% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 42% | 37% | 35% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 17% | 17% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 13% | 14% |
| What stands out | Granite City | IL |
|---|---|---|
| More adults with COPD | 9.1% | 6.3% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 14.4% | 10.3% |
| More smokers | 16.9% | 12.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Granite City has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 89°, January nights drop to 23° and about 11 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
27% of working residents cross a state line to work, St. Louis among the top destinations. Granite City has about as many jobs (11,295) as working residents, but only 1,988 people both live and work here.
Most working residents leave Granite City for work: only 17% work in town. 15% of residents live below the poverty line in Granite City. Since 2013, Granite City has lost 3,121 jobs, to 11,295 in 2023.
| Granite City | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 15% | 8.4% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 17% | 8.3% | 8% |
| Median household income | $59,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 22 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
1.2 miles of trail in 13 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Horseshoe Lake State Park, at 197 acres.
| Granite City | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 3.7% | 3.6% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Wilson Park | 0.5 mi | 67 |
| 2. Horseshoe Lake State Park | — | 197 |
| 3. Worthen Park | — | 27 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
14 within 15 miles of the center of Granite City
About 4 of every 100 Granite City residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Illinois.
2 places in Granite City on the National Register of Historic Places.
34 notable people were born in Granite City.
City in Illinois, United States
Granite City is a city in Madison County, Illinois, United States, within the greater St. Louis metropolitan area. Its population was 27,549 at the 2020 census, making it the third-largest city in the Metro East and Southern Illinois regions, behind Belleville and O'Fallon. Officially founded in 1896, Granite City was named by the Niedringhaus brothers, William and Frederick, who established it as a steelmaking company town for the manufacture of graniteware kitchen utensils.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
7 towns share a border with Granite City.
| Town | IL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Granite City · Granite City Township | #715 | D | A | D | D− | C− |
| Madison | #756 | D− | A− | — | D− | D |
| Nameoki Township | #731 | D | B+ | — | D− | C− |
| Pontoon Beach | #759 | D− | B− | C | D− | C− |
| Venice Township | #750 | D | B+ | — | D− | D |
| Hartford | — | — | A+ | — | C− | C |
| Chouteau Township | #577 | C | A+ | — | D− | C+ |
Hartford has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Madison, Nameoki Township, Venice Township, Hartford and Chouteau Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Granite City Township and Granite City are one community, graded once. Compare Granite City with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Granite City grades D overall, better than 10% of U.S. towns and #715 of 767 in Illinois. It grades C− for health, D for safety and D− for schools. Schools is its weak spot, with a D−.
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.
34 notable people were born here, including Robert Olen Butler and Andy Phillip.
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