Living in Alton, IL
Madison County
Alton is a real, distinct historic Mississippi River town in Illinois's Metro East region, genuinely oriented toward St. Louis, Missouri (just across the river via the Clark Bridge) rather than Chicago. Alton's own tourism bureau describes it as the only place in America where two of the nation's great roadways -- Route 66 and the Great River Road -- meet alongside the confluence of the Mississippi, Missouri, and Illinois Rivers, a real, distinctive tourism identity this record does not undersell. Alton's history runs genuinely deep: it hosted the 7th and final Lincoln-Douglas debate in 1858, is the hometown of Robert Wadlow (the tallest person in recorded history) and jazz musician Miles Davis, and carries the real, sobering history of abolitionist editor Elijah Lovejoy's 1837 killing by a pro-slavery mob. This record also discloses, honestly, Alton's real and historically catastrophic Mississippi River flood risk: the Great Flood of 1993 crested at 42.7 feet in Alton, more than double flood stage and six feet above the prior record. Housing runs genuinely, substantially affordable -- Zillow's own average-value index ran just $82,044 this pass, though other cited median figures ran meaningfully higher, a real, disclosed spread this record states rather than smooths over. Madison County's effective property tax rate (1.92%) runs somewhat below the Illinois statewide anchor figure, sitting on top of Illinois's real, statewide flat 4.95% income tax.
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Learn moreHousing
Taxes
Not independently sourced at the Madison County level this session. Illinois's top state income tax rate is 4.95%. See the Illinois hub page for the statewide property tax context -- do not treat that figure as Alton-specific.
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Get local guidanceThe tradeoffs
Pros
A wholly distinctive real historic identity -- the 7th Lincoln-Douglas debate, Robert Wadlow's and Miles Davis's hometown, and the genuinely unique claim of hosting both Route 66 and the Great River Road at America's three-river confluence; genuinely affordable housing well below Illinois and national medians; a real, local healthcare-employment anchor in OSF Saint Anthony's Health Center; and real proximity to the St. Louis, Missouri metro job market across the Mississippi River.
Cons
A real, disclosed, ongoing modest population decline; a real, disclosed median household income below both the Illinois and national figures; a real, substantial, and historically catastrophic Mississippi River flood-risk history (the 1993 flood crested more than double flood stage in Alton specifically) worth researching directly for any river-adjacent property; and Illinois's own real, statewide property-tax and current tornado/derecho risk layered on top of Alton's own river-specific flood exposure.
Who this fits
Best for: Best fits affordability-minded movers, anyone genuinely drawn to Alton's wholly distinctive Route 66/Great River Road/river-confluence and Lincoln-Douglas/Robert Wadlow historic identity, or those with a job or family connection to the St. Louis, Missouri metro across the river.
Maybe not for you if: Probably not the right fit for anyone highly averse to real, disclosed, historically significant Mississippi River flood risk, anyone requiring a median household income above the Illinois statewide figure, or anyone seeking a growing rather than a modestly declining population base -- worth researching current FEMA flood-zone status directly for any specific Alton property.
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