Despite the fact that it is a small city, East St. Louis has quite a few people who take public transportation – mostly the bus - for their daily commute to work. This helps to fill a real need in the city for affordable transportation.
The percentage of people in East St. Louis with college degrees is quite a bit lower than the national average for cities and towns of 21.84%: just 12.36% of people over 25 have a bachelor's degree or advanced degree.
The per capita income in East St. Louis in 2022 was $20,877, which is low income relative to Illinois and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $83,508 for a family of four. However, East St. Louis contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. East St. Louis also has one of the higher rates of people living in poverty in the nation, with 31.58% of its population below the federal poverty line.
The people who call East St. Louis home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of East St. Louis residents report their race to be Black or African-American, followed by White. Important ancestries of people in East St. Louis include African, German, Irish, Welsh, and Scottish.
The most common language spoken in East St. Louis is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Polish.
