East St. Louis is a medium-sized city located in the state of Illinois. With a population of 17,808 people and nine associated neighborhoods, East St. Louis is the 138th largest community in Illinois.

A relatively large number of people in East St. Louis telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 7.60% of the workforce works from home. While this may seem like a small number, as a fraction of the total workforce it ranks among the highest in the country. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

The city is relatively quiet, having a combination of lower population density and few of those groups of people who have a tendency to be noisy. For example, East St. Louis has relatively fewer families with younger children, and/or college students. Combined, this makes East St. Louis a pretty quiet place to live overall. If you like quiet, you will probably enjoy it here.

The percentage of adults in East St. Louis with college degrees is slightly lower than the national average of 21.84% for all communities. 15.90% of adults in East St. Louis have a bachelor's degree or advanced degree.

The per capita income in East St. Louis in 2022 was $23,036, which is low income relative to Illinois and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $92,144 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 32.76% 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, Nigerian, Welsh, and Irish.

The most common language spoken in East St. Louis is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Polish.