Metro East


The Metro East is an urban area in Southern Illinois, United States that contains the eastern and northern urban, suburban, and exurban areas on the Mississippi River in Greater St. Louis. It encompasses eight Illinois counties and constitutes the second-most populous metropolitan area in Illinois.
A historically significant region, the area included the mound building native culture of Cahokia, and the later French settlements of the Illinois Country. It also includes the fertile lands of the riparian American Bottom. The region has almost 700,000 residents and its most populated city is Belleville, with 42,404 residents. The area hosts several colleges and universities, with Southern Illinois University Edwardsville as the largest. Also located in Metro East is the Scott Air Force Base.

Geography

The Metro East is an Illinois county-based collection of small and mid-sized cities sitting along the American Bottom and the bluffs of the Mississippi River. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the eight counties of the region have a total area of 6,974 km2. 6,787 km2 of it is land and 186 km2 of it is water.
As of the 2020 census, the most populated cities in the region included the following

Demographics

As of the 2010 census, there had been a major shift in population from the older rust belt industrial cities in the Mississippi River bottom, such as East St. Louis and Alton, to the more suburban satellite cities, such as, Belleville, Edwardsville, and O'Fallon sitting on the bluffs. This is mainly due to continued white flight.
As of the census of 2000, there were 599,845 people, 229,888 households, and 160,260 families residing in the eight Metro East counties.
The most common language is English, although various other languages are spoken. German speakers exist in southeastern Madison, and Clinton, and southern and eastern St. Clair Counties. Spanish is spoken in the Fairmont City area, and in parts of Clinton County. The largest concentration of African-Americans is in Madison, Venice, western Granite City, East St. Louis, Washington Park, Belleville, Cahokia, Alorton and Alton.

List of counties

Notes:
  • ^ means part of city in another county/counties
  • Bold indicates county seat

    Bond County

  • Donnellson ^
  • Greenville
  • Keyesport ^
  • Mulberry Grove
  • Old Ripley
  • Panama ^
  • Pierron ^
  • Pocahontas
  • Smithboro
  • Sorento

    Calhoun County

  • Batchtown
  • Brussels
  • Hamburg
  • Hardin
  • Kampsville

    Clinton County

  • Albers
  • Aviston
  • Bartelso
  • Beckemeyer
  • Breese
  • Carlyle
  • Centralia ^
  • Damiansville
  • Germantown
  • Huey
  • Keyesport ^
  • New Baden ^
  • Trenton
  • Wamac ^

    Jersey County

  • Brighton ^
  • Chautauqua
  • Delhi
  • Dow
  • Elsah
  • Fidelity
  • Fieldon
  • Grafton
  • Jerseyville
  • Otterville

    Macoupin County

  • Benld
  • Brighton ^
  • Bunker Hill
  • Carlinville
  • Chesterfield
  • Dorchester
  • Eagarville
  • East Gillespie
  • Gillespie
  • Girard
  • Hettick
  • Lake Ka-ho
  • Medora ^
  • Modesto
  • Mount Clare
  • Mount Olive
  • Nilwood
  • Palmyra
  • Royal Lakes
  • Sawyerville
  • Scottville
  • Shipman
  • Standard City
  • Staunton
  • Virden ^
  • White City
  • Wilsonville

    Madison County

  • Alhambra
  • Alton
  • Bethalto
  • Collinsville ^
  • Dorsey
  • East Alton
  • Edwardsville
  • Fairmont City ^
  • Glen Carbon
  • Godfrey
  • Granite City
  • Hamel
  • Highland
  • Livingston
  • Madison
  • Marine
  • Maryville
  • New Douglas
  • Pierron ^
  • Pontoon Beach
  • Roxana
  • South Roxana
  • St. Jacob
  • Troy
  • Venice
  • Wood River
  • Worden

    Monroe County

  • Columbia ^
  • Fults
  • Hecker ^
  • Mayestown
  • Valmeyer
  • '''Waterloo'''

    St. Clair County

  • Alorton
  • Belleville
  • Brooklyn
  • Cahokia
  • Caseyville
  • Centreville
  • Collinsville ^
  • Columbia ^
  • Dupo
  • East St. Louis
  • Fairmont City ^
  • Fairview Heights
  • Fayetteville
  • Freeburg
  • Hecker ^
  • Lebanon
  • Lenzburg
  • Marissa
  • Mascoutah
  • Millstadt
  • New Athens
  • O'Fallon
  • St. Libory
  • Sauget
  • Scott AFB
  • Shiloh
  • Summerfield
  • Smithton
  • Swansea
  • Washington Park

    Colleges and universities

  • Greenville University
  • Kaskaskia College
  • Lewis and Clark Community College
  • McKendree University
  • Principia College
  • Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
  • Southwestern Illinois College

    Transportation

State routes

  • Illinois Route 3
  • Illinois Route 4
  • Illinois Route 13
  • Illinois Route 15
  • Illinois Route 16
  • Illinois Route 100
  • Illinois Route 109
  • Illinois Route 111
  • Illinois Route 127
  • Illinois Route 140
  • Illinois Route 143
  • Illinois Route 153
  • Illinois Route 156
  • Illinois Route 157
  • Illinois Route 158
  • Illinois Route 159
  • Illinois Route 160
  • Illinois Route 161
  • Illinois Route 162
  • Illinois Route 163
  • Illinois Route 177
  • Illinois Route 203
  • Illinois Route 255
  • Illinois Route 267

    U.S. routes

  • U.S. Route 40
  • U.S. Route 50
  • U.S. Route 51
  • Historic U.S. Route 66
  • U.S. Route 67

    Interstate freeways

  • I-55
  • I-64
  • I-70
  • I-255
  • I-270

    Public transit

Public transit service in St. Clair County is provided by Metro Transit in partnership with the St. Clair County Transit District. Service includes local bus lines and the MetroLink light rail system. MetroLink has 11 stations in Illinois between the East St. Louis Riverfront and Scott Air Force Base. It links the suburban Metro East to St. Louis Lambert International Airport on the Red Line and Shrewsbury, Missouri on the Blue Line. Intermediate stops include downtown St. Louis, area universities and hospitals, and downtown Clayton.
In 2019, the St. Clair County Transit District was awarded $96 million in Illinois infrastructure funding to build a extension of the Red Line from Shiloh-Scott to MidAmerica St. Louis Airport in Mascoutah. This extension will include two segments, a double-track and a single-track segment, along with a station at the airport. Construction on the extension began in 2023 with Metro expecting to begin operations in early 2026.
Additionally, Madison County Transit operates local bus service in that county with routes that serve downtown St. Louis transit centers.

Major employers

  • Anheuser-Busch
  • Boeing
  • Charter Communications
  • Illinois Department of Transportation
  • Monsanto
  • National Steel
  • Norrenberns Trucking
  • Olin Corporation
  • Scott Air Force Base
  • Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
  • U.S. Steel
  • Wood River Refinery

    Notable attractions

  • National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows, Centreville, near Belleville; operated by the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate
  • Brooks Catsup Bottle, Collinsville
  • Belle Clair Fairgrounds and Expo Center, Belleville
  • Cahokia Mounds, Collinsville, on Madison-St. Clair County line
  • GCS Ballpark, Sauget
  • Gateway International Raceway, Madison
  • Eads Bridge, historic bridge, among East. Louis, on the East St. Louis, Illinois, and St. Louis, Missouri border, over the Mississippi River
  • Pere Marquette State Park, Grafton
  • St. Clair Square, Fairview Heights
  • Robert Wadlow Statue, Alton
  • Horseshoe Lake, Pontoon Beach, Madison, and Granite City
  • Alton Square Mall, Alton
  • Carlyle Lake, Carlyle
  • National Building Arts Center, Sauget

    Residents, historic figures, and contributors

  • Josephine Baker, East St. Louis, performer and activist
  • Jason Boyd, Edwardsville, AAA pitcher
  • Jimmy Connors, East St. Louis and Belleville, tennis player
  • Neal Cotts, Lebanon, former MLB pitcher
  • Brian Daubach, Belleville, former MLB 1B/DH/outfielder
  • Miles Davis, East St. Louis and Alton, jazz artist
  • Lea DeLaria, Belleville, jazz singer, actress, and comedian
  • Elizabeth Donald, Edwardsville, horror novelist
  • Dick Durbin, East St. Louis, U.S. senator
  • Buddy Ebsen, Belleville, television actor
  • Jay Farrar, Belleville, musician
  • William Holden, O'Fallon, film actor
  • Louis Jolliet, explorer of the Mississippi River
  • Jackie Joyner-Kersee, East St. Louis, Olympic athlete
  • Ken Kwapis, Belleville, film and television director and producer
  • Père Jacques Marquette, French discoverer
  • T. J. Mathews, Columbia, former MLB pitcher
  • Laurie Metcalf, Edwardsville, film and television actress
  • Yadier Molina, Caseyville, Cardinals Baseball catcher
  • Jake Odorizzi, Highland, MLB Pitcher
  • Van Allen Plexico, Smithton, author and professor
  • Peter Sarsgaard, Belleville/Scott AFB, actor
  • John Shimkus, Collinsville, Congressman from Illinois's 15th congressional district
  • Michael Stipe, Collinsville, lead singer of the band REM
  • Jeff Tweedy, Belleville, lead singer of the band Wilco
  • Uncle Tupelo, Belleville, alternative country band
  • Craig Virgin, distance runner
  • Robert Pershing Wadlow, Alton, world's tallest man
  • Scott Wolf, Belleville, actor

    Media in the Metro East

St. Louis area TV stations

  • Note: This list is for the entire Metro East area; however, the low-powered stations may not reach the entire five-county Metro East area. WSIU, despite not being based from the St. Louis DMA, is available in Clinton, Washington, and most of St. Clair.

    Champaign-Urbana/Decatur/Springfield area TV stations

  • Note: This list is for Jersey County; however, the majority of these stations are not available for most Jersey County residents. These stations are more likely to be available in Greene and Macoupin counties, which border Jersey County.