Lerna’s median rent stands at $850 a month. Typical home values rose 16% in the year to September 2026. Also worth knowing: among households in the town, 77% own their home.

$189KZillow home value

	Lerna	Illinois towns	U.S. towns
Median rent	$850 a month	$1,129 a month	$1,185 a month
Households that own their home	77%	75%	73%

Typical home value

Lerna$189K

Illinois$296K

+16.2%

value change, 1 year

Full pageLerna’s housing & cost-of-living pageOpen the page

Prices over the yearsUp 16.2% in a year Years of income to buyA typical home costs 2.8 years of income Rents$850 a month · Median rent

Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center

Work & commute

Most of Lerna’s workers commute out: the town has 0.0 jobs for each of them

The top destinations are Mattoon (30%), Charleston (9%) and Effingham (5%). Lerna: 15% of residents live below the poverty line, against 8.4% in Illinois’ towns and 9.6% across U.S. towns. Its average trip to work stands at 21 minutes. For half of commuters, work is under 19 miles away.

0%work in town

	Lerna	Illinois towns	U.S. towns
Below the poverty line	15%	8.4%	9.6%
Average trip to work	21 minutes	26 minutes	25 minutes
Median household income	$68,000	$83,000	$80,000

Where working residents work

In Lerna0%

Mattoon30%

Charleston9%

Effingham5%

Arthur4%

19 mi

median commute distance

jobs based in Lerna

A commuter town

jobs vs. working residents

Full pageLerna’s work & commute pageOpen the page

The jobs here4 jobs based here · A commuter town Where people work0% work in Lerna Commute times21 minutes · The average commute How far they goHalf commute less than 19 miles

Census LEHD 2023 · ACS

Natural hazards

High risk in Lerna, with inland flooding at the top

Federal disaster aid has reached households in Lerna once, in 2008. Compared with 74% of U.S. communities, expected storm and flood damage in the town is higher. Of the losses FEMA expects in the town, 60% come from inland flooding and 11% from drought.

74risk score of 100

FEMA risk score

Inland floodingDroughtTornadoes

federal disasters paid out here

Full pageLerna’s hazards pageOpen the page

What it facesHigh risk Flood claims0 paid flood claims · No paid flood claims on record Past disasters1 federal disaster · Paid out in Lerna Get ready1.7 events a year, on average · Ready for inland flooding

FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA

Climate

Lerna has four seasons and pleasant summers

Expect July afternoons of 86° and January nights of 20°, with about 15 inches of snow a winter.

15″snow a winter

Typical low → high °F

Winter23–39°

Spring43–64°

Summer64–85°

Fall45–66°

Oct 24

typical first frost

Apr 15

typical last frost

+1.0°

vs. the 20th-century average

Full pageLerna’s climate pageOpen the page

A year of weatherJuly highs 86°, January lows 20°Rain & snow15″ of snow a winter · 42 inches of rain and snow a year Heating & coolingMostly a heating bill Then and now+1.0° vs. the 20th century · Warmer than the 20th-century average

NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020

Health

How healthy Lerna is

Lerna: 10% of adults worry about having enough food, where Illinois’ towns sit at 13% and U.S. towns at 14%. The share of adults in Lerna who had a checkup this year: 80%. In Lerna, just over a fifth of adults get no exercise outside work, and 37% have high blood pressure.

	Lerna	Illinois towns	U.S. towns
Food insecurity (CDC PLACES)	10%	13%	14%
Get no exercise (CDC PLACES)	22%	23%	25%
High blood pressure (CDC PLACES)	37%	35%	35%
Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES)	16%	17%	17%

32 measures vs. Illinois

7 better21 too close to call4 worse

What stands out	Lerna	IL
Fewer adults facing housing insecurity	8.3%	13.2%
Fewer adults facing food insecurity	10.1%	15.9%
More adults who have had cancer	10.8%	7.6%

Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center

4.9 mi away · emergency room

3 of 3

care shortages: primary care, dental, mental health

Full pageLerna’s health reportOpen the page

Everyday habitsFewer adults who get no exercise Hospitals & doctors nearby4.9 miles to an ER · Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center How adults are doingFewer adults lacking emotional support Every CDC estimateBetter than IL on 7 of 32

CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA

Keep exploring

Everything we know about Lerna

17pages on Lerna

The big questions

HealthBetter than IL on 7 of 32 CDC measures Cost of living$189K typical home · up 16.2% in a year Work & commute$68K median household income · 4 jobs here Natural hazardsFEMA risk higher than 74% of U.S. communities · inland flooding

Out and about

PlacesAttractions19 nearby · The Cross at the Crossroads 26 mi LibraryMattoon Public Library CollegesLake Land College is 4.9 mi away

The story

HistorySettled 1878 Famous people1 born in Lerna Town Hall & politicsClimate86° summer highs · 15″ of snow

Day to day

NewsWeatherHandbookZIP code 62440 Town SquareNeighbors

After high school

Colleges nearby

2 within 15 miles of the center of Lerna

Lake Land CollegeCommunity college · Public · Mattoon4.9 mi$4,415 in-state tuition Eastern Illinois UniversityUniversity or college · Public · Charleston7.4 mi$13,679 in-state tuition

About 4 of every 100 Lerna residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Illinois.

Prices by family income, graduation and earnings →

A commuter town

100% of working residents leave Lerna for work

Where Lerna’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.

4jobs based in Lerna

0%of working residents work in town

19 mimedian commute distance

Census LEHD 2023

About Lerna

Village in Illinois, United States

Lerna is a village in Coles County, Illinois, United States. The population was 226 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Charleston–Mattoon Micropolitan Statistical Area. Thomas Lincoln, the father of President Abraham Lincoln, spent the later part of his life on a homestead a few miles from Lerna, which is now preserved as the Lincoln Log Cabin State Historic Site. Thomas Lincoln and his second wife Sarah Bush Lincoln are buried in Shiloh Cemetery south of town.

From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)

Area: 0.1 sq mi
Elevation: 741 ft
ZIP code: 62440

Questions about Lerna

Short answers, built from the data on this page.

Is Lerna, IL a good place to live?

Lerna has fewer than 1,000 residents, too few for fair grades; the figures below are still real.

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Is Lerna a good place to live?

216 people, and everyone knows the way

148 years in pictures

Moving to Lerna: who provides what

The data

A typical Lerna home is worth about $189K