Village · St. Clair County, Illinois

Swansea, Illinois

Swansea is a village in St. Clair County, Illinois, part of the St. Louis, MO-IL metro area. It has 14,710 residents. Swansea, Illinois has a quality-of-life score of 43 out of 100 (moderate), ranking #8,916 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Illinois it ranks #409 of 697 cities and towns. It ranks best on hospital quality rating (high), rent as share of income (low) and rent-burdened households (low). It ranks worst on homicide rate (high), effective property tax rate (high) and preventable hospital stays (high).

43Moderate

Quality-of-life score: #8,916 of 15,651 cities and towns
Illinois: #409 of 697 in IL
Population: 14,710 (2020-2024)
Land area: 6 mi²
Density: 2,269.1 /mi²
FIPS code: 1774119

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 76 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety21#12,386/15,637
Economy54#7,172/15,631
Housing82#2,628/14,977
Health47#8,232/15,609
Healthcare52#7,465/15,650
Environment7#14,432/15,453
Education50#7,839/15,649
Infrastructure69#4,873/15,650
Community43#8,870/15,651
Leisure & amenities33#10,449/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Swansea, Illinois ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “St. Clair County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Hospital quality rating · high4.5
94/100Illinois 3.0United States 3.2Jul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesSt. Clair County value
Rent as share of income · low23.9%
94/100Illinois 29.1%United States 30.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25071
Rent-burdened households · low37.7%
84/100Illinois 47.9%United States 51.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25070
Distance to an emergency room · low3.9 mi
81/100Illinois 4.0 miUnited States 5.5 miJul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesSt. Clair County value
Home price to income ratio · low2.4×
81/100Illinois 3.2×United States 4.1×2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25077
Bachelor's degree or higher · high42.5%
78/100Illinois 37.8%United States 35.7%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B15003

Weaknesses

Homicide rate · high12.7 /100k
4/100Illinois 6.2 /100kUnited States 4.8 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataSt. Clair County value
Effective property tax rate · high2.08%
6/100Illinois 1.88%United States 0.94%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25090
Preventable hospital stays · high4,185 /100k
7/100Illinois 3,343 /100kUnited States 2,769 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteSt. Clair County value
Firearm deaths · high20.7 /100k
14/100Illinois 10.5 /100kUnited States 12.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataSt. Clair County value
Primary care shortage · high15.8
17/100Illinois 6.6United States 6.2Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationSt. Clair County value
Comfortable days · low23.8%
20/100Illinois 24.0%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationSt. Clair County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

PopulationRising
13,851 (2015-2019) → 14,710 (2020-2024)
+6.2%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
54.9% (2015-2019) → 37.7% (2020-2024)
−17 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
New homes permittedWorsening
2.5 /1k (2021) → 1.2 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−54%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Rent as share of incomeImproving
31.8% (2015-2019) → 23.9% (2020-2024)
−7.9 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
88.2% (2015-2019) → 94.0% (2020-2024)
+5.8 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Median household incomeImproving
$77,517 (2015-2019) → $91,587 (2020-2024)
+18%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Swansea, Illinois improved on 2 of 14 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 12 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved2

Rent burden−17 points54.9% → 37.7%
Rent / income−7.9 points31.8% → 23.9%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 14 measures

Change of every measure of Swansea, Illinois between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	24.9 min2015-2019	24.1 min2020-2024	−0.8 min	Within the margin of error	57%
Bachelor's degree or higher	40.1%2015-2019	42.5%2020-2024	+2.4 points	Within the margin of error	46%
Broadband subscriptions	88.2%2015-2019	94.0%2020-2024	+5.8 points	Within the margin of error	36%
Child poverty rate	10.1%2015-2019	10.9%2020-2024	+0.8 points	Within the margin of error	35%
Effective property tax rate	2.19%2015-2019	2.08%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	37%
High school diploma or higher	94.8%2015-2019	96.7%2020-2024	+1.9 points	Within the margin of error	57%
Home price to income ratio	2.2×2015-2019	2.4×2020-2024	+0.3×	Within the margin of error	62%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4542015-2019	0.4242020-2024	−0.029	Within the margin of error	74%
Median household income	$77,5172015-2019	$91,5872020-2024	+18%	Within the margin of error	29%
Poverty rate	7.6%2015-2019	8.7%2020-2024	+1.1 points	Within the margin of error	33%
Rent as share of income	31.8%2015-2019	23.9%2020-2024	−7.9 points	Improved	90%
Rent-burdened households	54.9%2015-2019	37.7%2020-2024	−17 points	Improved	91%
Unemployment rate	4.9%2015-2019	5.7%2020-2024	+0.8 points	Within the margin of error	33%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	6.9%2015-2019	5.6%2020-2024	−1.3 points	Within the margin of error	63%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Swansea, Illinois five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Swansea, Illinois in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Swansea, Illinois itself moved +12.2 points in standing on average over the same 10 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

14,710 residents (±530)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79
60–69

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

5,777 households (±375)

Swansea, Illinois
Illinois share

Under $25k10%†606
$25k–50k16%938
$50k–75k14%†798

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

5,777 households (±375)

Swansea, Illinois
Illinois share

Own73%4,243
Rent27%1,534

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

7,104 workers (±625)

Swansea, Illinois
Illinois share

Drive alone76%5,414
Carpool6.5%†463
Public transit0.7%†53

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the St. Louis, MO-IL

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of St. Clair County, the county holding most of Swansea's residents.

St. Clair County has 4,973 employer establishments, 197 for every 10,000 residents (0.79× the US rate of 248; 0.77× Illinois's), with 72,871 paid employees at an average annual pay of $50,062. The Census Bureau also counts 17,375 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 4,973; 17,375 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 197; US 248 · Illinois 255
Paid employees: 72,871
Average annual pay: $50,062; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of St. Clair County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Ambulatory health care services	459	18.2	0.87×About typical	5,244	$71,335	827
Restaurants and other eating places	378	15	0.82×About typical	7,982	$20,039	96
Specialty trade contractors	287	11.4	0.74×Fewer than typical	2,834	$69,893	767
Limited-service restaurants	209	8.3	1.03×About typical	4,030	$17,825	53
Lessors of real estate	172	6.8	0.55×Fewer than typical	587	$47,871	1,395
Religious organizations	172	6.8	1.23×About typical	1,629	$26,961	—
Services to buildings and dwellings	168	6.7	0.99×About typical	1,106	$44,070	1,084
Offices of other health practitioners	148	5.9	0.97×About typical	1,104	$49,726	341
Automotive repair and maintenance	147	5.8	1.16×About typical	914	$47,512	188
Full-service restaurants	140	5.6	0.72×Fewer than typical	3,542	$22,848	24
Offices of physicians	134	5.3	0.82×About typical	1,500	$122,119	82
Legal services	126	5	0.93×About typical	770	$112,286	133

Rank places for an industry Open St. Clair County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 252,232 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $314.9K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Swansea, Illinois: $21.41 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $314.9K; −69% vs FY2025
Per resident: $21.41; US $1,994
Sole-source: 0.0%; US 30%
Single offer: 0.0%; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Department of the Army$285.3K91%
Department of Veterans Affairs$22.1K7.0%
Department of the Air Force$7,4832.4%

Top recipients

Spending by fiscal year

1.3MFY2017
2MFY2018
2.2MFY2019
3.6MFY2020
3MFY2021
2.7MFY2022
3.9MFY2023
1.9M

Top industries (NAICS)

Architectural, engineering, and related services · 5413$285.3K91%
Nonmetallic mineral mining and quarrying · 2123$22.1K7.0%
Computer and peripheral equipment manufacturing · 3341$7,4832.4%

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Swansea, Illinois, so they do not add up across cities.

Swansea, Illinois's figures are part of those of St. Clair County, IL ($627.1M in FY2026), never added to them: 0.1% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Swansea is mostly in St. Clair County.

See federal money in St. Clair County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Swansea, Illinois is split between congressional districts: each representative is shown with the share of its residents in their district (current boundaries).

House

Senate

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

St. Clair County53100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

St. Louis, MO-IL72

Other cities and towns in St. Clair County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/1774119

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends