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. Scott Air Force Base is located in the Metro East.
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 (2,692 mi2). 6,787 km2 (2,620 mi2) of it is land and 186 km2 (71 mi2) of it (2.74%) is water.
As of the 2020 census, the most populated cities in the region included the following
Principal cities Belleville O'Fallon Granite City Edwardsville Alton CollinsvilleCity populations2010census 42,404 32,289 27,549 26,808 25,676 24,366
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
Bond Calhoun Clinton Jersey Macoupin Madison Monroe St. Clair
List of cities, towns, and villages Notes: ^ means part of city in another county/counties Bold indicates county seat
Bond County
Donnellson ^ (also in Montgomery County) Greenville Keyesport ^ (also in Clinton County) Mulberry Grove Old Ripley Panama ^ (also in Montgomery County) Pierron ^ (also in Madison County) Pocahontas Smithboro Sorento
Calhoun County
Batchtown Brussels Hamburg Hardin Kampsville
Clinton County
Albers Aviston Bartelso Beckemeyer Breese Carlyle Centralia ^ (also in Marion County) Damiansville Germantown Huey Keyesport ^ (also in Bond County) New Baden ^ (also in St. Clair County) Trenton Wamac ^ (also in Washington and Marion Counties)
Jersey County
Brighton ^ (also in Macoupin County) Chautauqua Delhi Dow Elsah Fidelity Fieldon Grafton Jerseyville Otterville
Macoupin County
Benld Brighton ^ (also in Jersey County) Bunker Hill Carlinville Chesterfield Dorchester Eagarville East Gillespie Gillespie Girard Hettick Lake Ka-ho Medora ^ (also in Jersey County) Modesto Mount Clare Mount Olive Nilwood Palmyra Royal Lakes Sawyerville Scottville Shipman Standard City Staunton Virden ^ (also in Sangamon County) White City Wilsonville
Madison County
Alhambra Alton Bethalto Collinsville ^ (also in St. Clair County) Dorsey East Alton Edwardsville Fairmont City ^ (also in St. Clair County) Glen Carbon Godfrey Granite City Hamel Highland Livingston Madison Marine Maryville New Douglas Pierron ^ (also in Bond County) Pontoon Beach Roxana South Roxana St. Jacob Troy Venice Wood River Worden
Monroe County
Columbia ^ (also in St. Clair County) Fults Hecker ^ (also in St. Clair County) Mayestown Valmeyer Waterloo
St. Clair County
Belleville Brooklyn Cahokia Heights Caseyville Collinsville ^ (also in Madison County) Columbia ^ (also in Monroe County) Dupo East St. Louis Fairmont City ^ (also in Madison County) Fairview Heights Fayetteville Freeburg Hecker ^ (also in Monroe County) 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 (an extension of I-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.Madison County Transit Overview
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 (Orange is the New Black) 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 (Rosanne, Uncle Buck, JFK) Yadier Molina, Caseyville, Cardinals Baseball catcher (resides there only during baseball season, and is originally from Puerto Rico) Jake Odorizzi, Highland, MLB Pitcher Van Allen Plexico, Smithton, author and professor Peter Sarsgaard, Belleville/Scott AFB, actor (Magnificent Seven, Jarhead, Green Lantern) John Shimkus, Collinsville, Congressman from Illinois's 15th congressional district (1997–2021) 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.
Paducah/Cape Girardeau/Harrisburg area TV stations Note: This list is for St. Clair, and Clinton counties; however, the majority of the stations, with the exception of WSIU and WPXS and possibly KFVS, are not available for a majority of the St. Clair, and/or Clinton County residents. These stations are more likely to be available in Washington County and the Centralia area.
Daily newspapers Note: daily newspaper coverage depends on county. Riverbender.com (Madison, Jersey counties) EdGlenToday (Madison county) The Metro East Star (St. Clair, Madison counties) Alton Telegraph (Madison, Jersey counties) Belleville News-Democrat (region-wide) Centralia Sentinel (Clinton and Washington counties) Southern Illinoisan (mainly in Washington County, rarely found elsewhere in the Metro East) St. Louis Post-Dispatch (region-wide) Edwardsville Intelligencer (Madison County)
Radio stations Note: stations listed are licensed and have offices in Metro East counties only. Stations that can be heard in the Metro East but not listed have offices outside the Metro East counties.
WSIE 88.7 FM (Edwardsville), Jazz/Public radio WLCA 89.9 FM (Godfrey), Alternative/College radio WIBI 91.1 FM (Carlinville), Christian contemporary W224DC 92.7 FM (Caseyville), Catholic W232CR 94.3 FM (Alton), Oldies WRXX 95.3 FM (Centralia), Pop KXBS 95.5 FM (Bethalto), Christian rhythmic contemporary WCXO 96.7 FM (Carlyle), Adult hits WDLJ 97.5 FM (Breese), Classic rock WXOS 101.1 FM (East St. Louis), Sports WGEL 101.7 FM (Greenville), Country W279AQ 103.7 FM (Mascoutah), Black-oriented news WJAF-LP 103.7 FM (Centralia), Classic hits WNSV 104.7 FM (Nashville), Hot AC KTLK 104.9 FM (Columbia), Conservative talk WAOX 105.3 FM (Staunton), Hot AC KPNT 105.7 FM (Collinsville), Alternative WSMI 106.1 FM (Litchfield). Country WARH 106.5 FM (Granite City), Adult Hits W296DR 107.1 FM (Alton) News/Talk KFNS 590 AM (Wood River), Sports WIJR 880 AM (Highland), Regional Mexican WRYT 1080 AM (Edwardsville), Catholic WILY 1210 AM (Centralia), Oldies WSDZ 1260 AM (Belleville), Catholic WJBM 1480 AM (Jerseyville), Talk WSMI 1540 AM (Litchfield), Classic Country WBGZ 1570 AM (Alton), News/Talk