Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The everyday basics are strong; the price of a home is the catch. Its strongest subject is schools (A): its public schools beat 90% of Illinois towns on state tests and graduation. It also does well on incomes — the median household earns $103K. What counts against it is cost of living: the typical home is worth about , years of the St. Louis metro’s $80K median household income. Hazard risk is weaker too: FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than three quarters of U.S. communities, with inland flooding at the top. Put together, the subjects come to an A− overall, better than just over four fifths of U.S. towns. In the ranking it comes 222nd of 767 in Illinois. Scott AFB’s mean commuting time is 14 minutes, below both Illinois’ towns (26 minutes) and U.S. towns (25 minutes).
Figures: schools, state test and graduation results · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · home values, Zillow · FEMA National Risk Index.
Where Scott AFB beats most towns.
| Widest gap | Scott AFB | IL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults with heart disease | 1.9% | 5.9% |
Where Scott AFB’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 Scott AFB is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1873 and 7 maps from 1907 on.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Scott AFB. Close and well known come first.
Big draw14 mi State parkCahokia
Big draw19 mi Stadium & arenaThe Dome at America's Center
19 mi Stadium & arenaBusch Stadium
14 mi LandmarkMonks Mound
18 mi National ParkGateway Arch National Park2.2M visitors a year
20 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 · Monks Mound: Skubasteve834, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Gateway Arch National Park: Daniel Schwen, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Enterprise Center: Haaron755, CC BY-SA 3.0
Scott AFB is unincorporated, so St. Clair County and regional agencies provide most services.
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 Scott AFB.
Scott AFB draws workers from O'Fallon and beyond, has less heart disease than most of Illinois and is mostly renters.
In Scott AFB, the trail network density is 1.4 miles per square mile. 5.9 miles of trail in 1 park or preserve. One park or preserve covers 16 acres here.
| Scott AFB | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.4 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 1.8% | 3.7% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Scott Field Heritage Air Park | 0.9 mi | 16 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
1,582 jobs are based in Scott AFB, 1.8 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. The average commute takes 13.9 minutes, against 27.8 across Illinois.
Jobs based in Scott AFB grew to 1,582 in 2023, 177 more than in 2013. In Scott AFB, 2.3% of working residents work locally. The top destinations are Belleville (11%), St. Louis (10%) and O'Fallon (5%). Half commute less than 22 miles.
| Scott AFB | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 14 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $103,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 2.3% | 8.4% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 5.7% | 8.4% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its widest gap with Illinois is heart disease: 1.9% of its 2,262 adults have heart disease, against 5.9% statewide.
Scott AFB: 33% of adults have obesity. No town among the 767 in Illinois we compare has a lower share of adults who have diabetes than Scott AFB. In Scott AFB, just over a quarter of adults binge drink, and 19% have high blood pressure. Among 767 Illinois towns, just 2 have a lower share of adults who had a checkup this year than Scott AFB.
| Scott AFB | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 4.6% | 11% | 12% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 18% | 16% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 35% | 35% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 8.2% | 13% | 14% |
| What stands out | Scott AFB | IL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults with heart disease | 1.9% | 5.9% |
| Fewer adults who have had a stroke | 1.2% | 3.3% |
| More binge drinkers | 25.7% | 17.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Only 3.1% of households own their home, against 67.1% across Illinois.
Scott AFB’s midpoint age is 26.6 years. People 65 and older are 1% of residents (17% statewide); children under 18 are 36% of residents (22% statewide). Here, 34% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree, against 38% in Illinois as a whole. Only 2 of the 768 Illinois towns we compare have a higher share of children under 18 than Scott AFB.
| Scott AFB | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 36% | 22% | 22% |
| Median age | 26.6 years | 40.7 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 34% | 29% | 29% |
50% women, 50% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±5 points. Across Illinois, 50.6% of residents are women. Median age: women 27.7, men 26.0.
| Scott AFB | IL | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 26.2% | 11.5% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 9.7% | 10.4% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 4.4% | 9.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 29.1% | 13.6% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 18.7% | 13.3% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 5.7% | 12.4% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 5.3% | 12.8% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 0.6% | 10% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 0.3% | 7% | 7% |
| No diploma | 1.2% | 9.5% | 10.4% |
| High school | 12.6% | 25.1% | 26% |
| Some college | 31.3% | 19.2% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 21.1% | 8.3% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 17.3% | 22.6% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 16.6% | 15.3% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 4,000, single groups can be off by several points
Federal disaster aid has reached households in Scott AFB once, in 2024. 69% of the town’s expected losses from natural hazards come from inland flooding, followed by earthquakes at 16%. Since 2020, one flood insurance claim has been paid here.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
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
2 within 15 miles of the center of Scott AFB
About 13 of every 100 Scott AFB residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Illinois.
US Air Force base near Belleville, Illinois, United States
Scott Air Force Base (IATA: BLV, ICAO: KBLV, FAA LID: BLV) is a United States Air Force base in St. Clair County, Illinois, near Belleville and O'Fallon, 17 miles (27 km) east-southeast of downtown St. Louis. Originally Scott Field, it was one of 32 Air Service training camps established after the United States entered World War I in April 1917. The present base serves as the headquarters of Air Mobility Command (AMC) and its showcase wing, and it is also the headquarters of the U.S. Transportation Command, a unified combatant command that coordinates transportation across all the services. The base is operated by the 375th Air Mobility Wing (375 AMW) and is also home to the Air Force Reser…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Scott AFB.
| Town | IL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scott AFB | #222 | A− | D | — | A | A |
| Shiloh Valley Township | #170 | A | C− | — | A | A− |
| Shiloh | #156 | A | C | B+ | A− | A− |
| Mascoutah · Mascoutah Township | #116 | A | C | A | A | B+ |
| O'Fallon | #252 | A− | C− | B− | A− | A |
Scott AFB and Shiloh Valley Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Mascoutah Township and Mascoutah are one community, graded once. Compare Scott AFB with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Scott AFB grades A− overall, better than 81% of U.S. towns and #222 of 767 in Illinois. It grades A for health and A for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
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