Cairo
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 Cairo album
Outdoors in Cairo
Parks & trails →Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
c. 1865
Twenty-eighth Street, Cairo, Illinois.Alternate Title: American scenery. / 28th Street in Cairo, showing buildings, wal…, c. 1865
Photo · Wikimedia Commons
About Cairo
City in the United StatesCairo (, KAIR-oh, sometimes , KAY-roh) is the southernmost city in the U.S. state of Illinois and the county seat of Alexander County. A river city, Cairo has the lowest elevation of any location in Illinois and is the state's only city to be surrounded by levees. The city is named after Egypt's capital on the Nile and is located in the river-crossed area of Southern Illinois. It is coterminous with Cairo Precinct. Cairo is located at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, two of the largest rivers in North America, by discharge, and is near the Cache River complex, a Wetland of International Importance. Settlement began in earnest in the 1830s and busy river boat traffic expand…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Town numbers
Housing in Cairo
The typical Cairo home is worth about $34,000, down 12.1% in a year, 89% below the Illinois typical home.
Only 1 sale in May 2026, too few for a market read. The typical value is the steadier guide.
Schools in Cairo
All Cairo schools →School Grade D-
The public schools Cairo’s kids attend trail 99% of Illinois’s districts on state tests. Among towns with similar incomes, they rank near the bottom.
School data from the U.S. Department of Education (NCES, EDFacts). The School Grade is our own summary of state test results, graded within IL. Ratings are from neighbors.
