Why look at Granite City?
- Affordable housing. Median home is $113k — well below the national median.
- Stable market. Home values -0.4% year-over-year — neither overheated nor falling.
- Higher tax state. Top marginal income tax rate around 5.0% — factor into salary comparisons.
Where Granite City stands
Population shrinking 0.6% per year.
Home value trajectory · last 10 years
Zillow ZHVI · monthlyLifestyle scores
Scores are heuristic estimates from population density, state, and known transit/walkable cities. Not based on a paid Walk Score / Transit Score API — see methodology for the formula.
Rent vs buy
At a 10.0 price-to-rent ratio, buying generally beats renting in Granite City on a long-enough horizon. The headline math is that one year of mortgage payments approximates 10.0 years of rent — well below the 15+ threshold where ownership starts to dominate.
How the momentum score breaks down
methodology →About Granite City (Wikipedia)
Granite City is a city in Madison County, Illinois, United States, within the greater St. Louis metropolitan area. Its population was 27,549 at the 2020 census, making it the third-largest city in the Metro East and Southern Illinois regions, behind Belleville and O'Fallon. Officially founded in 1896, Granite City was named by the Niedringhaus brothers, William and Frederick, who established it as a steelmaking company town for the manufacture of graniteware kitchen utensils.
Source: Wikipedia · this summary is contributed and licensed under CC-BY-SA.
Local safety & alerts
No active National Weather Service alerts for Madison County right now.
Public-safety links are official .gov sources, not curated by us. Madison County routes NWS alerts; check the state EM portal for non-weather emergencies.
Run the numbers for Granite City
Illinois context
Schools
Granite City is served by 10 public schools enrolling about 5,921 students, with a student-teacher ratio of 16.9:1 — about the same as the US average of ~15:1. Public-school facts are from the NCES Common Core of Data; check ratings and attendance boundaries by exact address below.
Ratings, districts & boundaries:
Sources: Zillow ZHVI (home values), Zillow ZORI (rents), US Census ACS + place population. Updated when source agencies publish revisions.
Climate & natural-disaster risk
State-level averages from NOAA Climate Normals (1991-2020) and FEMA National Risk Index. City-level conditions can vary significantly within a state.
Local sports teams
Major professional teams the St. Louis area cheers for. Detailed stats, schedules, and player pages on intherafters.com.
Current weather
Find rentals & listings
Open current Granite City listings on the major real-estate sites.
Links open the live search on the destination site — results are always current.
Local news & community
Latest news in Granite City
1 from local press- Caseyville man charged with murder of woman in Granite City in 1993LOCALThe Troy Times Tribune1d ago
- $1 million scratch-off ticket sold at Granite City storeFOX 21w ago
- After 33 years, DNA led to charges in Granite City murder caseAlton Telegraph1d ago
- Granite City High School (IL) Boys VolleyballMaxPreps5d ago
- ‘I finally know who did this’: Arrest made in 33-year-old cold case murderKSDK2d ago
- Granite City woman wins $1-million on $10 scratch-offAdVantageNews.com1w ago
Updated 2026-05-28 from Google News + Reddit RSS. Filtered for Granite City-specific coverage. Headlines link to original sources.
Local economy & environment
Humidity is annual average relative humidity (NOAA). Income is Census ACS 5-year estimate. Industries are largest employment sectors statewide (BLS); the local mix in a given city may vary.
Find more cities like Granite City
Open the matchmaker pre-filled to match Granite City’s price band, region, and size — refine to taste.
Find more like Granite City →Cities similar to Granite City
Explore other places with comparable momentum or affordability.
Cost-of-ownership at the median
Snapshot assumes a $150k single earner buying at the median home. Your real numbers depend on bracket, deductions, school district, and HOA. Use the affordability calculator and net-pay calculator for your specific case.
Schools & crime context
School quality is district-by-district and varies dramatically within a city. Check GreatSchools or your state DOE rankings for specific schools before deciding. City-level school data coming soon.
Illinois: 396 violent crimes per 100K residents (state avg, FBI UCR). Neighborhood-level rates can vary 10× within one city — research specific areas via CrimeGrade or local police data.
Compare to where you live now
Set your current city once and we’ll show the cost delta on every city profile.
Jobs & hiring
In Granite City, unemployment sits around 5.7%, and hiring momentum has been modest. The strongest local sectors are skilled trades & manufacturing, healthcare and hospitality & tourism.
Search current openings: