Alton
What’s happening
Weather
Forecast →Upcoming events
Put the next local happening — a market, a meeting, a concert — on the map.
Local news
Headlines via Google News · Articles belong to their publishers.
The Alton album
Outdoors in Alton
Parks & trails →Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
1908
W.M.A. Grounds, 1908
Photo · Library of Congress
About Alton
City in the United StatesAlton ( 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…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
How Alton ranks
All →Town numbers
Housing in Alton
The median sale price was $153,000 in May 2026.
A seller's market
Safety in Alton
Safety Grade D
Alton reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 95% report less.
Famous people from Alton
See all 75 →Where Alton is
Explore map →
Location map





