Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 5,727, settled in 1757.
Metropolis gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $123K, 1.9 years of the Paducah metro’s $64K median household income. It grades C+ overall, 555th of 767 graded towns in Illinois. The low prices come with trade-offs. FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 87% of U.S. communities, with earthquakes at the top, and residents are less healthy than 90% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. On the plus side, 34% of its land is conserved. 34% of the land in Metropolis is conserved, above both the Illinois town median (3.6%) and the median of U.S. towns (4.3%). Fort Massac State Park, at 1,292 acres with 2.6 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. Metropolis is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 72% of U.S. towns.
Where Metropolis beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Its founding year, 1757, is the earliest of any Illinois town we grade.
Census counts: 1,098 in 1860, 5,969 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1850 and 6 maps from 1926 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far Metropolis is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Metropolis, 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 Metropolis.
Metropolis has milder winter nights than almost anywhere else in Illinois and sends many workers across the state line to Paducah, but it carries more natural-hazard risk than most of Illinois (mostly earthquakes).
At 1.9 years of the Paducah metro’s $64K median household income, the typical home (about $123K) costs less against local pay than in 82% of Illinois towns; that ratio is one input to its A− for cost of living. At about $123K, home values are up 12% in five years, against a rise of 30% across Illinois.
Metropolis’ median rent is $752 a month, against $1,129 a month in Illinois’ towns and $1,185 a month across U.S. towns. 61% of households own their home in Metropolis. The typical Metropolis home is worth about $123,000, up 3.7% in a year, 58% below the Illinois typical home.
| Metropolis | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 61% | 75% | 73% |
| Median rent | $752 a month | $1,129 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its public schools are run by the Massac UD 1 school district. Two of its 4 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Massac County High School, with 512 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Metropolis Elem SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 457 | C |
| Massac County High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 512 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within IL on state tests and graduation
17% of Metropolis adults report frequent physical distress. Metropolis beats the Illinois average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 18. 26% of Metropolis adults say their health is fair or poor.
| Metropolis | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 13% | 14% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 13% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 18% | 19% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 11% | 12% |
| What stands out | Metropolis | IL |
|---|---|---|
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 79% | 75.7% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 23.7% | 10.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its 1,336 conserved acres are a larger share of the town than in any other Illinois town. Its A+ for the outdoors ranks #14 of 768 in Illinois.
3.7 miles of trail in 7 parks and preserves.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Fort Massac State Park | 2.6 mi | 1,292 |
| 2. Metropolis Sportspark | 0.5 mi | 22 |
| 3. Metropolis Soccer Fields | — | 22 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 97% of Illinois towns, with expected losses of about $673 per resident a year; that rating is what its D− for hazard risk is built on.
Since 1979, 55 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Metropolis.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
January nights average 26.8°, the #2 highest of 2,886 Illinois places with climate records; July afternoons average 89.2°.
Metropolis has chilly winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. Metropolis’ July high is 89°F. Of the 768 Illinois towns we compare, none has a higher January low than Metropolis.
| Metropolis | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 89°F | 84°F | 85°F |
| January low | 27°F | 17°F | 22°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The violent crime rate in Metropolis is 3.5 per 1,000 residents.
| Metropolis | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 3.5 per 1,000 residents | 1 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 9.6 per 1,000 residents | 7.9 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
38% of working residents cross a state line to work, Paducah among the top destinations. Metropolis has about as many jobs (2,303) as working residents, but only 637 people both live and work here.
About one in 4 of Metropolis’s working residents works in town. Since 2013, Metropolis has lost 151 jobs, to 2,303 in 2023. The top destinations are Paducah (22%), Calvert City (2%) and Marion (2%).
| Metropolis | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 16 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 28% | 8.3% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 18% | 8.4% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $50,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
1 within 15 miles of the center of Metropolis
About 3 of every 100 Metropolis residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Illinois.
34.1% of the town is conserved land, across 7 parks and preserves.
2 places in Metropolis on the National Register of Historic Places.
14 notable people were born in Metropolis.
City in Illinois, United States
Metropolis is a city and the county seat in Massac County, Illinois, United States. It is located by the Ohio River. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 5,969, down from 6,537 in 2010. Metropolis is part of the Paducah metropolitan area in Southern Illinois.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Metropolis grades C+ overall, better than 36% of U.S. towns and #555 of 767 in Illinois. It grades D for health, C+ for safety and B+ for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a D−.
Not for the 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−.
14 notable people were born here, including Oscar Micheaux and John Steele.
