Save town Compare Needs More Love
Town guide

Alton

A city of 25,279 people in Illinois
Be the first to joinEarn karma for joining →
1

Now in Alton

What’s happening this week

All posts →
This week+ What’s happening in Alton?
From your neighbors

What’s happening

A preview of what neighbors share. Be the first to post in Alton.

Weather

Forecast →
Coming up

Upcoming events

Nothing on the calendar yet

Put the next local happening — a market, a meeting, a concert — on the map.

Add an event →
Around town

Local news

All news →

Headlines via Google News · Articles belong to their publishers.

2

Around town

The places and views that make it Alton

Explore places →

Outdoors in Alton

Parks & trails →

Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US

Circular advertising a supper for benefit of the Colored Baptist Church, to be held over Robinson’s Saloon, (Alton, Ill…1855
From Alton’s story

Circular advertising a supper for benefit of the Colored Baptist Church, to be held over Robinson’s Saloon, (Alton, Ill…, 1855

Photo · Wikimedia Commons

3

Know Alton

The town at a glance, and the guide to how things work

Open the full guide →

About Alton

City in the United States
1818Established
25,676Population
16.7 sq miArea
492 ftElevation

Alton ( AWL-tən) is a city on the Mississippi River in Madison County, Illinois, United States, about 18 miles (29 km) north of St. Louis, Missouri. Its population was 25,676 at the 2020 census. It is a part of the River Bend area in the Metro-East region of the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area. It is well known for its limestone bluffs along the river north of the city, and it is the former location of an historical state penitentiary and played a significant role preceding and during the American Civil War. It was the site of the last Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas debate in October 1858. The former state penitentiary in Alton was used during the Civil War to hold up to 12,000 Con…

Official town website ↗

From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)

Town numbers

ZIP code62002
Area code+1 618
Living in Alton

Housing in Alton

$153K Median sale price · Redfin, May 2026

The median sale price was $153,000 in May 2026.

A seller's market

Buyer’sBalancedSeller’s
Days on market30
Sale-to-list98.4%
Sold in May26
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data CenterHousing market →

Safety in Alton

D

Safety Grade D

Alton reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 95% report less.

Violent crime per 1,000
Alton 8.3
Illinois 2.6
U.S. 3.3
Property crime per 1,000
Alton 31
Illinois 15.6
U.S. 15.5
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to policeCrime & safety →

Famous people from Alton

See all 75 →

How things work in Alton

All explainers →
You’re browsing

Alton

Illinois · IL
View town boundary →
Township / city / CDP overlaps possible.
Loading boundary…

Alton is your selected town. The feed includes posts assigned to this town, not a distance radius or ZIP code.

Neighborhoods narrow the feed further, while townwide announcements, events, and issues remain visible.

Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/18 · 2025-01-01