Looks like its a great place to live. wikipedia info
As of the
census<sup id="fn_GR2_back">
GR2</sup> of
2000, there were 31,542 people, 11,178 households, and 7,668 families residing in the city. The
population density is 866.2/km² (2,242.9/mi²). There are 12,899 housing units at an average density of 354.2/km² (917.2/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 97.74%
African American, 1.23%
White, 0.19%
Native American, 0.08%
Asian, 0.03%
Pacific Islander, 0.19% from
other races, and 0.55% from two or more races. 0.73% of the population are
Hispanic or
Latino of any race.
There are 11,178 households out of which 33.2% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 21.9% are
married couples living together, 40.6% have a female householder with no husband present, and 31.4% are non-families. 27.8% of all households are made up of individuals and 10.4% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.80 and the average family size is 3.42.
In the city the population is spread out with 32.8% under the age of 18, 9.7% from 18 to 24, 24.6% from 25 to 44, 20.3% from 45 to 64, and 12.5% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 31 years. For every 100 females there are 81.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 72.5 males.
The median income for a household in the city is $21,324, and the median income for a family is $24,567. Males have a median income of $27,864 versus $21,850 for females. The
per capita income for the city is $11,169. 35.1% of the population and 31.8% of families are below the
poverty line. Out of the total population, 48.6% of those under the age of 18 and 25.2% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.
East St. Louis is one of the most crime-ridden cities in the
United States. According to
FBI's data of
2005, its
murder rate hit 63.4 per population of 100,000, surpassing that of murder-infamous cities such as,
Gary, Indiana (56.4 per pop. 100,000),
New Orleans, Louisiana (54.5,
2004 data due to unavailability of 2005 data),
Opa Locka, Florida (51.0)
Richmond, Virginia (42.5),
Baltimore, Maryland (41.3),
Camden, New Jersey (41.3),
Detroit, Michigan (37.2), and
Washington, D.C. (34.1), as well as that of its neighbor St. Louis (37.6).
Compton, California had a higher rate at (67.1). Their data also showed East St. Louis' very high
rape rate, which exceeded 300 per pop. 100,000.
East Saint Louis and
Opa Locka, Florida are generally considered to have the highest crime rates in the United States (Opa Locka had the absolute highest crime rate in 2003 and 2004 for cities of any population.)
The following table shows East St. Louis' crime rate in 6 crimes that
Morgan Quitno uses for their calculation for "America's most dangerous cities" ranking, in comparison to the national average.
<dl><dd><sup id="_ref-0" class="reference">
[4]</sup>Year:
2005 number of crimes per 100,000.</dd></dl> <table class="wikitable"><tbody><tr> <th>Crime</th> <th>East Saint Louis</th> <th>National Average</th> </tr> <tr> <td>Murder</td> <td>63.4</td> <td>6.9</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Rape</td> <td>342.4</td> <td>32.2</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Robbery</td> <td>954.3</td> <td>195.4</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Assault</td> <td>6,489.8</td> <td>340.1</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Burglary</td> <td>2,520.4</td> <td>814.5</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Automobile Theft</td> <td>2,000.5</td> <td>526.5</td></tr></tbody></table>
*** Looks like Opa Locka, Florida could be a good place to be a snowbird and rent a cheap apartment during the winter months.