Housing & affordability
18% of the score · 22/100
F
Median home value$89,600
St. Louis $244,800
Median rent$765/mo
St. Louis $1,113/mo
Cost-burdened households30%
St. Louis 26%
Centralia
Marion & Clinton counties11,856 residents3 school districts
45
D
Suburbgrade score
51st of 60 St. Louis suburbs. Strongest on commute & transport, held back by employment & income.
45
St. Louis median 60
0 · F
A+ · 100
Launch-day rule. Residents is not counted for Centralia yet: no poll responses so far. The overall score of 45 is computed on the other six categories, re-normalised to 100%. Answer the poll →
What living here is actually like
Written summary in preparation This page is waiting for its written summary, and for a person to check it. Until then it is excluded from search engines.
What Centralia is like to live in, by category
Bars show Centralia against St. Louis. Weights are published in full.Schools
18% of the score · 46/100
D
Within-state proficiency22nd pct
St. Louis median 68th pct
Student–teacher ratio12.2
St. Louis median 14.5
Graduation rate—
St. Louis median 94%
Cost of living
14% of the score · 65/100
C+
Housing cost index70
St. Louis 100
Eff. tax rate1.88%
St. Louis 1.16%
Local sales tax8.96%
St. Louis median 8.44%
Commute & transport
14% of the score · 72/100
B−
Mean commute19.0 min
St. Louis 24.9 min
Under 30 minutes81%
St. Louis 65%
Transit stops / sq mi0.7
St. Louis median 1.4 · within 2 miles
Amenities
12% of the score · 57/100
C−
Restaurants & cafés20
St. Louis median 32 · within 2 miles
Groceries4
St. Louis median 4 · within 2 miles
Parks28
St. Louis median 21 · within 2 miles
Employment & income
12% of the score · 14/100
F
Median household income$47,807
St. Louis $80,196
Unemployment11%
St. Louis 4.2%
Professional occupations34%
St. Louis 45%
Residents
12% of the score · inactive
—
No responses yet. Residents is excluded from the score until eight people answer.
Ask the people who live here
Twelve yes/no questions, one tap each. No dataset knows whether the yards are kept or whether anyone talks to their neighbours. Answers feed the Residents grade, which needs eight responses before it counts.
Nobody has answered for Centralia yet. If you live here, you can be the first.
Is it quiet at night?
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Do you feel safe walking after dark?
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Can you walk to a grocery store?
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Is it good for young children?
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Are yards and streets well kept?
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Tap either button to answer — no account neededAll twelve questions →
Better than Centralia on employment & income
Centralia's weakest grade is F.
Nothing within 25 miles beats Centralia on employment & income.
Median household income: ACS 2020–24 · Unemployment: ACS 2020–24
Common questions about living in Centralia
Is Centralia, IL a good place to live?
Centralia scores 45 out of 100, 51st of 60 St. Louis suburbs. It is strongest on commute & transport and weakest on employment & income. Every weight behind that score is published on the methodology page.
Is Centralia expensive to live in?
Cost of living grades C+. The median home is $89,600, 63% below the St. Louis median, and the effective property tax rate is 1.88%. $765/mo is the median gross rent.
How good are the schools in Centralia?
Schools grade D. The districts serving Centralia sit at the 22nd pct within-state proficiency percentile, with a — graduation rate and a 12.2 student–teacher ratio. Centralia is served by Centralia Hsd 200, Centralia SD 135 and Willow Grove SD 46. Proficiency is only ever compared inside the same state.
How long is the commute from Centralia?
The mean commute is 19.0 min, with 81% of workers travelling under 30 minutes and 6.0% working from home. Transit density is 0.7 stops per square mile.
Can you walk anywhere in Centralia?
Within two miles there are 4 groceries, 20 restaurants and cafés and 28 parks, which grades C− on amenities.
Are the homes in Centralia old or new?
The median home in Centralia was built in 1965 — older than the St. Louis median of 1973. That is a median, so a town can be half post-war and half new-build and still land there. 76% of homes are houses rather than flats.
Every answer is built from the figures on this page, with their sources and as-of dates on the methodology page.