Alton is a medium-sized city located in the state of Illinois. With a population of 25,217 people and 11 associated neighborhoods, Alton is the 85th largest community in Illinois.Unlike some cities where white-collar or blue-collar occupations dominate the local economy, Alton is neither predominantly one nor the other. Instead, it has a mixed workforce of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Alton is a city of service providers, professionals, and sales and office workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Alton who work in food service (10.58%), office and administrative support (9.56%), and management occupations (8.05%). Also of interest is that Alton has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US. A relatively large number of people in Alton telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 8.15% 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 education level of Alton citizens, measured as those with bachelor's degrees or advanced degrees, is similar to the national average for all American cities and towns. 20.12% of adults 25 and older in Alton have a college degree. The per capita income in Alton in 2022 was $28,120, which is lower middle income relative to Illinois and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $112,480 for a family of four. However, Alton contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. Alton is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Alton home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Alton residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Alton include German, Irish, English, Italian, and Polish. The most common language spoken in Alton is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and German/Yiddish.
