The book's checklist
- Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 12.6% below the U.S. average in the parts of Illinois outside metro areas.
- More house for the moneyA typical home costs 1.9 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
- A safer neighborhood0 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 0 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 0 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
- Schools in town2 public schools: 1 elementary and 1 high school.
- A hospital close byThomas H Boyd Memorial Hospital is in town and has an emergency room.
- Within reach of a big citySt. Louis is about 46 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.
A check means Carrollton meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.
What kind of town
Carrollton has lost about 5% of its people since 2020, and about 1 in 8 homes stands empty (not counting vacation homes or homes for sale or rent). A shrinking town can mean bargains, but visit Main Street on a weekday and ask what's closed lately.
The book sorts small towns into six types. These labels come only from the numbers; take the quiz to see which type fits your family.
For a lifetime
Homes and money
- Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
- $114,000U.S.: $332,700
- Home prices since then
- Up 0.5%Greene County, 2022 to 2025
- Typical rent, with utilities
- $779 a monthU.S.: $1,413
- Typical household income
- $60,455U.S.: $80,734
- Homes owned by the people living in them
- 69%U.S.: 65%
- Typical property tax bill
- $1,881 a yearIllinois: $5,298
- Homes built before 1940
- 35%U.S.: 12%
- Homes built since 2010
- 6%U.S.: 11%
- Vacation and seasonal homes
- 2%U.S.: 3%
- Everyday prices
- 87.4U.S. average = 100 (the parts of Illinois outside metro areas)
Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 0.5% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the parts of Illinois outside metro areas, not Carrollton alone. Check current listings before you budget.
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.
The people
- Population, 2025 estimate
- 2,3492020: 2,476
- Median age
- 36.8 yearsU.S.: 38.9
- Age 65 and older
- 20%U.S.: 17%
- Under 18
- 26%U.S.: 22%
- Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
- 24%U.S.: 36%
- Moved here from another county or state in the past year
- 6%U.S.: 6%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.
Work
- Biggest lines of work
- Schools, health care and social services (32%); arts, recreation, lodging and restaurants (11%); retail (11%)
- Unemployment rate
- 4%U.S.: 5%
- Average commute
- 22 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
- Work from home
- 12%U.S.: 15%
- Below the poverty line
- 12%U.S.: 12%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.
Health care
Nearest emergency room: Thomas H Boyd Memorial Hospital, Carrollton, IL, in town. It's a critical access hospital (a small rural hospital with 25 or fewer beds). Medicare hasn't given it a star rating.
Nearest general hospital: Jersey Community Hospital, Jerseyville, IL, about 13 miles away. Medicare gives it 3 of 5 stars.
Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.
Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.
Schools
2 public schools in Carrollton, run by Carrollton CUSD 1.
See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on Illinois's school report card.
Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.
Internet
- Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet
- 66%U.S.: 76%
- Homes with any internet subscription
- 95%U.S.: 91%
Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.
Weather
- January average low
- 18°F
- July average high
- 86°F
- Days 90°F or hotter
- 25 a year
- Nights at or below freezing
- 120 a year
- Rain and melted snow
- 39.6 inches a year
- Snow
- 18 inches a year
- Elevation
- 605 feet
Weather station: White Hall 1 E (10 miles away). Averages for 1991 to 2020.
Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.
Getting around
Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Florissant, St. Louis.
Greene County is outside any metro area, with fewer than 5,000 people in its towns, next to a metro area (USDA rural-urban code 8, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).
For a day
4 places on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Carrollton Courthouse Square Historic District, the Henry T. Rainey Farm and Margaret Black Farmstead (Additional Documentation).
National Park Service sites within about an hour:
- New Philadelphia National Historic Site40 miles
- Gateway Arch National Park47 miles
- Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site51 miles
- Lincoln Home National Historic Site53 miles
- Springfield 1908 Race Riot National Monument54 miles
Read about Carrollton's history on Wikipedia.
Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.
Nearby
Straight-line miles.
Small towns
- White Hall, IL2,200 people, 10 miles
- Jerseyville, IL8,400 people, 13 miles
- Roodhouse, IL1,500 people, 13 miles
- Elsberry, MO2,100 people, 22 miles
- Brighton, IL2,200 people, 23 miles
- Winchester, IL1,500 people, 23 miles
Smaller places
- Kane, IL274 people, 8 miles
- Eldred, IL141 people, 8 miles
- Rockbridge, IL170 people, 11 miles
- Kampsville, IL294 people, 11 miles
- Greenfield, IL997 people, 11 miles
- Fieldon, IL159 people, 14 miles
- Hardin, IL779 people, 15 miles
Sources
- U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
- Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
- U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
- FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
- Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
- National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
- National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
- NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
- U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
- National Park Service, park unit boundaries
- USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
- U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas
Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.