Centralia, Illinois
Area Profile
11,856 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Centralia, in Marion County.
How this area ranks
Data updated · 12 sourcesEmployment conditions sit below most comparable cities measured: unemployment is 4.2% and the Opportunity signal places Centralia in the bottom 10%. The unemployment rate is published for Marion County, IL, which contains Centralia, rather than for Centralia alone.
In the public schools here, 21% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 12.3 students for every teacher.
Residential permitting has slowed: 1 units authorized over the past twelve months, against 2 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
Jobs & opportunity
Unemployment across Marion County, IL, which contains Centralia, is 4.2%, lower than in 55% of the 4,226 measured US cities.
Employment across Marion County, IL, which contains Centralia, fell 1.3% over the past year, to 15,351 employed residents.
Median household income of $47,807 is lower than in 81% of measured US cities.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income ±$2,9402024 ACS 5-Year | $47,807 | Bottom 19%of 29,223 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Per capita income ±$1,7592024 ACS 5-Year | $26,963 | Bottom 26%of 31,420 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Poverty rate ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year | 23.4% | Bottom 17%of 31,773 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Average commute ±2.4 min2024 ACS 5-Year | 19.5 min | Top 16%of 31,543 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Bachelor's degree or higher ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year | 16.4% | Bottom 38%of 31,919 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Drove alone to work ±6%2024 ACS 5-Year | 77.1% | 50th percentileof 31,433 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| EmploymentMarion County, IL’s figureJuly 2026 | 15,351 | Bottom 14%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Employment change (3 years)Marion County, IL’s figureJuly 2026 | −3.9% | Bottom 7%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Employment change (year over year)Marion County, IL’s figureJuly 2026 | −1.3% | Bottom 37%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Labor forceMarion County, IL’s figureJuly 2026 | 16,019 | 14th percentileof 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Labor force participation ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year | 68.8% | Bottom 24%of 31,513 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Public transit to work ±0.4%2024 ACS 5-Year | 0.4% | 78th percentileof 31,433 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Unemployment change (year over year)Marion County, IL’s figureJuly 2026 | −0.9% | Top 15%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Unemployment rateMarion County, IL’s figureJuly 2026 | 4.2% | Top 45%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Worked from home ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year | 6.0% | 42nd percentileof 31,433 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
Median household income, successive ACS releases
The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes city-level labor data only for places of 25,000 or more. This is the figure for Marion County, IL, which contains this city.
21% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 25% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.
There are 12.3 students for every full-time teacher across 9 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.
| School | District | Students | Per teacher | Math | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Centralia High School | Centralia HSD 200 | 887 | 12.3 | 21% | 26% |
| Centralia Jr High School | Centralia SD 135 | 559 | 11.6 | 14% | 22% |
| Central City Elem School | Central City SD 133 | 276 | 13.1 | 9% | 25% |
| Schiller Elem School | Centralia SD 135 | 270 | 15.0 | 25% | 15% |
| Jordan Elem School | Centralia SD 135 | 228 | 12.7 | 37% | 22% |
| Raccoon Cons Elem School | Raccoon Cons SD 1 | 204 | 12.8 | 32% | 47% |
| Willow Grove Elem School | Willow Grove SD 46 | 127 | 9.8 | 22% | 22% |
| North Wamac Grade School | North Wamac SD 186 | 122 | 13.6 | 32% | 37% |
| Grand Prairie Elem School | Grand Prairie CCSD 6 | 63 | 9.0 | 15% | 15% |
| Centralia Pre-Kindergarten Ctr | Centralia SD 135 | 11 | — | — | — |
| Hoyleton Education Center | Kaskaskia Spec Educ District | 0 | — | — | — |
| Safe School Program Centralia | Clintn/Jeffrsn/Marin/Washngtn ROE | 0 | — | — | — |
78.4% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.
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.
Housing & affordability
How it’s calculated — housing affordability →The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the non-metropolitan parts of Illinois is up 45% over five years, and up 5.6% 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 $1,558 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.74% of the median home value.
HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $990, some 29% above the $765 tenants already here pay.
At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $990 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $39,600 a year, about 83% of the median household income here of $47,807.
The typical renter household here spends 29% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $765 a month.
A median home at $89,600 costs 1.5 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $60,298, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.
The figures above are measured against Centralia’s median household income of $47,807, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home price change (1 year)the non-metropolitan parts of Illinois’s figure2026 Q2 | +5.6% | 83rd percentileof 4,154 | 2026 Q2 |
| Home price change (5 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Illinois’s figure2026 Q2 | +44.8% | 56th percentileof 4,154 | 2026 Q2 |
| Home price change (10 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Illinois’s figure2026 Q2 | +68.1% | 13th percentileof 4,154 | 2026 Q2 |
| Home price to income ±0.32024 ACS 5-Year | 1.5 | Top 15%of 26,815 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Homeownership rate ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year | 62.5% | 24th percentileof 31,717 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Housing units ±2442024 ACS 5-Year | 5,713 | 90th percentileof 32,177 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Market rent, one bedroomFY2026 | $800 | Top 8%of 4,072 | FY2026 |
| Market rent, three bedroomFY2026 | $1,270 | Top 6%of 4,072 | FY2026 |
| Market rent, two bedroomFY2026 | $990 | Top 7%of 4,072 | FY2026 |
| Median gross rent ±$992024 ACS 5-Year | $765 | Top 24%of 23,120 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median home value ±$10,5722024 ACS 5-Year | $89,600 | 14th percentileof 29,111 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median property taxes ±$1812024 ACS 5-Year | $1,558 | 44th percentileof 26,440 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Owner household income ±$9,1392024 ACS 5-Year | $60,298 | Bottom 23%of 27,548 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Property tax rate ±0.29%2024 ACS 5-Year | 1.74% | 87th percentileof 20,543 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Rent as a share of income ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year | 29.0% | Bottom 46%of 22,950 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Seasonal and second homes ±1132024 ACS 5-Year | 128 | 91st percentileof 32,330 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year | 2.2% | 71st percentileof 31,895 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year | 8.6% | 58th percentileof 31,769 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Vacant housing units ±1752024 ACS 5-Year | 619 | 92nd percentileof 32,330 | 2024 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.
Growth & development
How it’s calculated — growth →Development Momentum
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 3% since 2020, to 11,787 in 2024.
New construction is predominantly single-family: of 1 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.
At 0.1 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.
Population, annual estimates
Housing units permitted per year
Weather & climate
6 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 88°F and January a low of 21°F.
Normal annual precipitation is 44.7 inches, including 12.0 inches of snow.
Precipitation
| Metric | Value | Source period |
|---|---|---|
| Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals | 44.7" | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals | 12.0" | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average January low1991-2020 Normals | 21°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average July high1991-2020 Normals | 88°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals | 6 | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals | 47°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. How to read climate and air quality.
Physical risk
The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are earthquake, inland flooding and heat wave, with earthquake alone responsible for 34% 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.
Low or minimal exposure: heat wave, drought, landslide, winter weather, lightning, hurricane, ice storm, 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.
Below these are deaths rather than offenses, published for the county. The two measure different things and are not comparable with each other.
Centralia's police department reported 923 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, higher than most places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 3,257.
Marion County has a modeled homicide rate of about 3.9 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.
Firearm deaths of all intents run at about 13.4 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.
Drug overdose deaths run at about 12.7 per 100,000 residents in Marion County.
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.
Offenses are reported to the FBI by Centralia’s own police department and shown only where it reported every month of the year; a partial year is withheld rather than scaled up. Reported crime is what police recorded, which is not the same as what happened. 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 Centralia (Marion County) rather than Centralia itself. Neither is part of the Area Score. How to read crime rates and 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.
- Cost of living
- Price parities are published for metropolitan areas, and this place lies outside one.
- Air quality
- The EPA publishes an air-quality index only where a monitor sits. There is none in this county, and a modeled value would be a different kind of number from the measured ones everywhere else on this page.
- 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. Cost of living is published where the Bureau of Economic Analysis measures it, though not for this place. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
- Anything about a specific address
- Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.
Access
6 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Scott AFB/Midamerica St Louis at 38 miles.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Broadband access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year | 85.1% | Bottom 31%of 31,588 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Distance to major airportNASR current cycle | 38 mi | Bottom 20%of 4,226 | NASR current cycle |
| Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle | 6 | Top 27%of 4,226 | NASR current cycle |
| No internet access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year | 11.6% | Bottom 31%of 31,588 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Airport | Code | Distance | Longest runway |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scott AFB/Midamerica St Louis | BLV | 38 mi | 10,000 ft |
| Veterans Airport of Southern Illinois | MWA | 53 mi | 8,012 ft |
| St Louis Rgnl | ALN | 56 mi | 8,099 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.
Customize your score
What matters to you?
Choose what you weight most heavily. Nothing is saved to an account — your preferences stay in this browser, and the Area Score never changes.
Select one or more priorities to see how this location scores against them.
Similar places
Matched on AreaProfile signals, not geographyCompare
Put Centralia side by side with a similar place.
Moving to Centralia from somewhere else?
You get the difference in prices, rent and weather, and the income that would keep pace.
Data & methodology
| Used for | Source | Source period |
|---|---|---|
| Access | Federal Aviation Administration Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service | NASR current cycle |
| Safety | Federal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency | 2025 calendar year |
| Physical risk | Federal Emergency Management Agency National Risk Index | National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0) |
| Climate | NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly) | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Jobs | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Local Area Unemployment Statistics | July 2026 |
| Development | U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey | 12 months ending July 2026 |
| Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, Jobs | U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File) | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Demographics | U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program | July 1, 2024 estimate |
| Safety | U.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 |
| Schools | U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments | 2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year |
| Housing | U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research Fair Market Rents | FY2026 |
| Housing | U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions) | 2026 Q2 |
| Current conditions | NOAA 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.
ZIP codes in Centralia
1 ZIP areaEvery ZIP area in Centralia with census figures of its own, largest first. The ones linked below diverge enough from the city as a whole to carry a full profile; the rest track Centralia closely, so their figures are here rather than on a page that would repeat this one. An Area Score is calculated for published profiles only, which is why it is blank on those rows.
| ZIP | Population | Median household income | Median home value | Area Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 62801 | 19,827 | $52,017 | $94,800 | — |