On a day when the weather forecast says there's a chance of rain showers, like this upcoming Wednesday, I often find myself looking for something to do around…

Or start one of these

Weather

Forecast →

75°

Clear

H 70° · L 52°

Upcoming events

Nothing on the calendar.

The data

Ordered by what stands out in Somerset. Another town gets a different order.

Schools

Somerset’s public schools outperform 17% of Illinois districts

The public schools Somerset’s kids attend, from kindergarten through graduation, trail 83% of Illinois’s districts on state tests and graduation. Among towns with similar incomes, they rank near the bottom.

C−School Grade

School	Grades	Students	Grade
Carruthers Elementary School	3–5	426	C
Murphysboro High School	9–12	565	C+
McElvain School	PK	64	Not graded
TCSE Carruthers Elem	M	—	Not graded
Tcse-McElvain Ec	M	—	Not graded
Tcse-Murphysboro HS	M	—	Not graded

NCES · EDFacts · graded within IL on state tests and graduationAll 6 schools →

Natural hazards

Very high risk, with earthquakes at the top

Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 80% of U.S. communities.

80risk score of 100

FEMA risk score

EarthquakesInland floodingStrong wind

paid flood claims since 1993

FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMANatural hazards →

Health

Healthier than 25% of U.S. towns

Somerset beats the Illinois average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 15.

C−Health Grade

32 measures vs. Illinois

0 better17 too close to call15 worse

What stands out	Somerset	IL
More adults with COPD	9.7%	6.3%
More older adults who have lost all their teeth	15.6%	10.3%
More smokers	16.8%	12.1%

St. Joseph Memorial Hospital

3.3 mi away · emergency room

3 of 3

care shortages: primary care, dental, mental health

11th

percentile among IL towns

CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSAFull health report →

Work & commute

Most working residents commute out of Somerset

Most working residents leave Somerset for work: only 8% work in town. The top destinations are Murphysboro (24%), Carbondale (21%) and Marion (5%). Half commute less than 10 miles.

8%work in town

Where working residents work

In Somerset8%

Murphysboro24%

Carbondale21%

Marion5%

Mount Vernon3%

10 mi

median commute distance

1,000

jobs based in Somerset

A commuter town

jobs vs. working residents

Census LEHD 2023 · ACSCommute map →

Climate

Four seasons, hot summers

Somerset has chilly winters and warm summers. A typical July afternoon reaches 89°, a January night drops to 24°, and about 10 inches of snow falls in a normal winter.

10″snow a winter

Typical low → high °F

Winter27–44°

Spring45–67°

Summer65–87°

Fall46–69°

Oct 22

typical first frost

Apr 9

typical last frost

+0.9°

vs. the 20th-century average

NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020Full climate →

Outdoors

1.2% of Somerset is conserved land

0.0 miles of trails across 1 parks and preserves.

1.2%conserved

Map of Somerset: conserved land, trails and the top places to walk — Green: conserved land · dashed: trails · numbers: the places below

1.2%

conserved · 280 of 23,960 acres

0.0 mi

of trails · 0 per sq mi

Biggest places to walk	Trails	Acres
1. Lake Murphysboro State Park	—	261

Grange Hall · National Register of Historic Places

Somerset’s story

142 years in pictures

1 places on the National Register of Historic Places.

1884Somerset is settled

Explore the history →

About Somerset

Township in Illinois, United States

Somerset Township is one of sixteen townships in Jackson County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2020 census, its population was 3,934 and it contained 1,861 housing units.

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