Cahokia Heights, Illinois

Area Profile

17,106 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Cahokia Heights, in St. Clair County.

48out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 14% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 15 sources
Opportunity2,767th of 4,199 cities measured49
SchoolsTop 48% of 4,162 cities measured51
Growth4,186th of 4,224 cities measured10
Housing affordability3,201st of 4,218 cities measured53
ClimateTop 40% of 4,225 cities measured72
Physical resilience2,803rd of 4,226 cities measured43
AccessTop 40% of 4,226 cities measured95
Economic stability4,113th of 4,226 cities measured20
The quick read

Unemployment is 3.8% and median household income $33,792, putting employment conditions in the middle range of cities measured. The unemployment rate is published for St. Clair County, IL, which contains Cahokia Heights, rather than for Cahokia Heights alone.

In the public schools here, 31% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 14.5 students for every teacher. Math proficiency and 1 other measure here are published for St. Clair County, IL, which contains Cahokia Heights, rather than for Cahokia Heights alone.

No residential units were authorized over the past twelve months, against a nonzero total the year before.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
17,106
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$33,792
Bottom 6% nationally
Density
1,084/sq mi
15.8 sq mi of land
Median age
30.3
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Illinois
Nearest major airport
STL
17 mi · St Louis Lambert Intl
Median home value
$56,000
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across St. Clair County, IL, which contains Cahokia Heights, is 3.8%, lower than in 69% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment across St. Clair County, IL, which contains Cahokia Heights, grew 0.8% over the past year, to 116,989 employed residents.

Median household income of $33,792 is lower than in 94% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsSt. Clair County, IL’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$58,12122nd percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftSt. Clair County, IL’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$62,30228th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$4,4472024 ACS 5-Year$33,792Bottom 6%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,5312024 ACS 5-Year$20,124Bottom 9%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±7%2024 ACS 5-Year33.0%Bottom 8%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±3.6 min2024 ACS 5-Year27.2 minBottom 47%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year13.5%Bottom 30%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±6%2024 ACS 5-Year68.7%25th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentSt. Clair County, IL’s figureJuly 2026116,989Top 41%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)St. Clair County, IL’s figureJuly 2026−0.6%Bottom 45%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)St. Clair County, IL’s figureJuly 2026+0.8%Top 21%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceSt. Clair County, IL’s figureJuly 2026121,56659th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year76.8%Bottom 45%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wageSt. Louis, MO-IL Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$66,330Bottom 37%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Median annual wageSt. Louis, MO-IL Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$49,990Bottom 40%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year5.5%96th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)St. Clair County, IL’s figureJuly 2026−1.0%Top 12%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateSt. Clair County, IL’s figureJuly 20263.8%Top 31%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year8.5%54th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

20222023202438k30k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $33,792 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

Largest occupations — St. Louis, MO-IL

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
General and Operations Managers46,410$93,140
Home Health and Personal Care Aides44,200$34,490
Registered Nurses35,200$83,180
Cashiers31,130$32,380
Retail Salespersons29,750$33,820
Stockers and Order Fillers28,940$37,840

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes city-level labor data only for places of 25,000 or more. This is the figure for St. Clair County, IL, which contains this city.

31% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 37% in reading, across the schools here that reported results. Math proficiency and 1 other measure here are published for St. Clair County, IL, which contains Cahokia Heights, rather than for Cahokia Heights alone.

There are 14.5 students for every full-time teacher, fewer than in most measured places. The student-teacher ratio is published for St. Clair County, IL, which contains Cahokia Heights, rather than for Cahokia Heights alone.

Public schools
—
Students per teacher
14.5
Math proficiency
31.4%
Bottom 46% in Illinois
Reading proficiency
36.9%
Bottom 48% in Illinois

The proficiency and staffing figures above are for St. Clair County, IL: too few schools in Cahokia Heights reported a usable figure on their own to weight one honestly.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Illinois’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 5% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 95.0, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the St. Louis, MO-IL Metro Area is up 41% over five years, and up 4.1% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $1,346 a year in real estate taxes, about 2.40% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,218, some 24% above the $981 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,218 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $48,700 a year, about 144% of the median household income here of $33,792.

The typical renter household here spends 41% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $981 a month.

A median home at $56,000 costs 1.0 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $54,154, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Cost of living
95.0

Prices here run about 5% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the St. Louis, MO-IL Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
40.8%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
1.0×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,218
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$981
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$56,000
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Cahokia Heights’s median household income of $33,792, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living indexthe St. Louis, MO-IL Metro Area’s figure202395.0Top 27%of 3,7002023
Home price change (1 year)the St. Louis, MO-IL Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+4.1%67th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the St. Louis, MO-IL Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+40.5%43rd percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the St. Louis, MO-IL Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+81.9%34th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year1.0Top 4%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±7%2024 ACS 5-Year52.2%11th percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±5852024 ACS 5-Year8,46993rd percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$995Top 23%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,568Top 21%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,218Top 22%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$882024 ACS 5-Year$981Bottom 49%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$4,6572024 ACS 5-Year$56,0003rd percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1322024 ACS 5-Year$1,34637th percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$9,8792024 ACS 5-Year$54,154Bottom 16%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.31%2024 ACS 5-Year2.40%97th percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±6%2024 ACS 5-Year40.8%Bottom 11%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±202024 ACS 5-Year01st percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.0%1st percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year28.5%95th percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±3142024 ACS 5-Year2,41698th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

10/ 100
Ranks 4,186 of 4,224 published city profiles
The most recent move in permitting was downward, in a series running from 2022 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has fallen 4% since 2020, to 17,052 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before: 0 units authorized in 2025, against a nonzero total the year before.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 0 units permitted over the past twelve months, only 1% are in buildings of five or more homes. The multifamily share is published for St. Clair County, IL, which contains Cahokia Heights, rather than for Cahokia Heights alone.

Federal tax returns show St. Clair County, which contains Cahokia Heights, lost about 0.4% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $58,121, below the $62,302 of households that moved out.

At 0.0 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
0
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
0.0
Bottom 1% nationally
Year over year
−100%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
1.4%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202418k17k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population. It has been falling for the last 4 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
−0.4%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
67%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$58,121
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$62,302
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Madison County, IL 1,764 people · 17% of arrivals
  2. St. Louis County, MO 926 people · 8.8% of arrivals
  3. St. Louis city, MO 692 people · 6.6% of arrivals
  4. Monroe County, IL 273 people · 2.6% of arrivals
  5. Clinton County, IL 242 people · 2.3% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Madison County, IL 2,126 people · 19% of departures
  2. St. Louis County, MO 1,093 people · 9.7% of departures
  3. St. Louis city, MO 579 people · 5.1% of departures
  4. Monroe County, IL 359 people · 3.2% of departures
  5. Clinton County, IL 257 people · 2.3% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. This is the figure for St. Clair County, IL. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

20222023202420251.00.0
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey.

Weather & climate

7 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 89°F and January a low of 24°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 40.8 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 46, in the Good band, and about 3 days a year pass 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station CAHOKIA ST LOUIS AP, 0.1 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.8"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year642024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals40.8"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals24°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals89°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals71991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year32024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year462024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals47°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
46
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
64
90th percentile index
Days above 100
3
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

43 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, earthquake and heat wave, with inland flooding alone responsible for 41% of it. Heat wave is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

EarthquakeModerate
HailModerate
TornadoModerate
Inland floodingElevated
Ice stormModerate

Low or minimal exposure: heat wave, cold wave, lightning, winter weather, landslide, drought, strong wind, hurricane, wildfire, avalanche, coastal flooding, tsunami, volcanic activity.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

St. Clair County records 12.7 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, higher than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 20.7 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 22.3 per 100,000 residents in St. Clair County.

Homicide
12.7
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
20.7
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
22.3
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
16.7
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe the county around Cahokia Heights (St. Clair County) rather than Cahokia Heights itself. They are shown and not scored. How to read death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. Either no municipal department reports for this place — many smaller communities are policed by the county — or its department did not report every month of the year. Either way there is no figure to show. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

5 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest St Louis Lambert Intl at 17 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year84.4%Bottom 29%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle17 miTop 47%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle5Top 45%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year11.1%Bottom 33%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
St Louis Lambert IntlSTL17 mi11,020 ft
Scott AFB/Midamerica St LouisBLV17 mi10,000 ft
St Louis RgnlALN23 mi8,099 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
48
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Other cities in St. Louis, MO-IL

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
St. LouisSt. Louis city288,51254St. Louis vs Cahokia Heights
O'FallonSt. Charles County93,80174O'Fallon vs Cahokia Heights
St. CharlesSt. Charles County71,50869St. Charles vs Cahokia Heights
St. PetersSt. Charles County59,09271
FlorissantSt. Louis County51,77357
ChesterfieldSt. Louis County49,57475
WentzvilleSt. Charles County47,06170
BellevilleSt. Clair County41,37053
OakvilleSt. Louis County35,33367
WildwoodSt. Louis County35,13372
University CitySt. Louis County34,68566
O'FallonSt. Clair County32,26268

Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.

Compare

Put Cahokia Heights side by side with a similar place.

Cahokia Heights vs CarbondaleCahokia Heights vs Columbus

Moving to Cahokia Heights from somewhere else?

You get the difference in prices, rent and weather, and the income that would keep pace.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
HousingU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWS
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar year
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology, or every source with how often each updates.