Housing & affordability
18% of the score · 32/100
F
Median home value$108,100
St. Louis $244,800
Median rent$936/mo
St. Louis $1,113/mo
Cost-burdened households26%
St. Louis 26%
Wood River
Madison County10,279 residents4 school districts
51
D+
Suburbgrade score
48th of 60 St. Louis suburbs. Strongest on cost of living, held back by housing & affordability.
51
St. Louis median 60
0 · F
A+ · 100
Launch-day rule. Residents is not counted for Wood River yet: no poll responses so far. The overall score of 51 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 Wood River is like to live in, by category
Bars show Wood River against St. Louis. Weights are published in full.Schools
18% of the score · 44/100
D
Within-state proficiency22nd pct
St. Louis median 68th pct
Student–teacher ratio13.6
St. Louis median 14.5
Graduation rate—
St. Louis median 94%
Cost of living
14% of the score · 68/100
B−
Housing cost index74
St. Louis 100
Eff. tax rate1.75%
St. Louis 1.16%
Local sales tax8.96%
St. Louis median 8.44%
Commute & transport
14% of the score · 58/100
C
Mean commute23.7 min
St. Louis 24.9 min
Under 30 minutes69%
St. Louis 65%
Transit stops / sq mi0.9
St. Louis median 1.4 · within 2 miles
Amenities
12% of the score · 58/100
C
Restaurants & cafés27
St. Louis median 32 · within 2 miles
Groceries3
St. Louis median 4 · within 2 miles
Parks25
St. Louis median 21 · within 2 miles
Employment & income
12% of the score · 52/100
D+
Median household income$62,703
St. Louis $80,196
Unemployment2.9%
St. Louis 4.2%
Professional occupations29%
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 Wood River yet. If you live here, you can be the first.
Is it quiet at night?
—
Do you feel safe walking after dark?
—
Can you walk to a grocery store?
—
Is it good for young children?
—
Are yards and streets well kept?
—
Tap either button to answer — no account neededAll twelve questions →
Better than Wood River on housing & affordability
Wood River's weakest grade is F. Six suburbs are within 25 miles and score higher on the same four inputs.
SuburbHousingOverall
Creve Coeur24 mi from Wood RiverB+ 76 B Clayton20 mi from Wood RiverB 77 B Webster Groves24 mi from Wood RiverB 76 B Old Jamestown11 mi from Wood RiverB− 49 D+ O'Fallon20 mi from Wood RiverC 62 C St. Charles24 mi from Wood RiverC 69 B− Median home value: ACS 2020–24 · Ownership rate: ACS 2020–24
Common questions about living in Wood River
Is Wood River, IL a good place to live?
Wood River scores 51 out of 100, 48th of 60 St. Louis suburbs. It is strongest on cost of living and weakest on housing & affordability. Every weight behind that score is published on the methodology page.
Is Wood River expensive to live in?
Cost of living grades B−. The median home is $108,100, 56% below the St. Louis median, and the effective property tax rate is 1.75%. $936/mo is the median gross rent.
How good are the schools in Wood River?
Schools grade D. The districts serving Wood River sit at the 22nd pct within-state proficiency percentile, with a — graduation rate and a 13.6 student–teacher ratio. Wood River is served by Roxana Cusd 1, East Alton-Wood River Chsd 14, Wood River-Hartford Esd 15 and East Alton SD 13. Proficiency is only ever compared inside the same state.
How long is the commute from Wood River?
The mean commute is 23.7 min, with 69% of workers travelling under 30 minutes and 7.6% working from home. Transit density is 0.9 stops per square mile.
Can you walk anywhere in Wood River?
Within two miles there are 3 groceries, 27 restaurants and cafés and 25 parks, which grades C on amenities.
Are the homes in Wood River old or new?
The median home in Wood River was built in 1955 — 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. 79% 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.