IntelliMoveTake the quiz →Living in Payson, IL
Payson is a small town of 1,100 people in Adams County, Illinois. It's about 83 miles from Columbia, MO and 98 miles from St. Louis, MO, the nearest major city. Summer highs average 86°F and winter highs 35°F, with about 17 inches of snow a year. The typical home is valued around $132k and rent runs about $768 a month.
1,100people
$132kTypical home
$768/moRent
86° / 35°Summer / winter
17"Snow
238Sunny days
105Rain/snow days
Is Payson right for you?
Take the 5-minute quiz and see your match — and how it stacks up against 34,000 other places.
Size & setting
- Small town of 1,100
- Its own small hub, not a suburb
- About 940 people per sq mi
- 98 mi to St. Louis, MO
- 83 mi to Columbia, MO
- 11 mi to the nearest town of 10k+
Money
- Typical home $132k (≈$832/mo)
- Median rent $768/mo
- Median household income $60k
- Property tax about 1.7% of value
- 2.0% unemployment
Weather
- Summer highs around 86°F
- Winter highs around 35°F
- Muggy summers (dew point 65°F)
- 238 sunny days a year (95 totally clear)
- 127 cloudy days a year
- 41 of 90 winter days are gray
- 105 days a year with rain or snow
- 17" of snow a year
- 7 days a year with 1"+ of snow
- 1 day a year over 100°F
- 18 nights a year below 10°F
- Breezy
Safety
- Very low violent crime (54 per 100k), county-wide
- Very low property crime (188 per 100k), county-wide
People
- Median age 36
- 30% of households have kids
- 16% are 65 or older
- 21% have a college degree
- Not very diverse
- 3% of residents are college students
Getting around & homes
- Average commute 25 min
- 1% walk or take transit to work
- 9 mi to UIN airport
- 87 mi to STL (major hub)
- 54 mi to the nearest Amtrak station
- 87% single-family homes
- Typical home built around 1973
- 93% of homes have broadband
Outdoors
- Gently rolling terrain
- Elevation 738 ft
- 653 mi to the ocean
- 235 mi to a big lake
- 9 mi to the nearest trailhead
- 36 mi to the nearest ski area
- 7 mi to the nearest campground
- 12 golf courses within 25 mi
Things to do
- 78 sit-down restaurants within 25 mi
- 27 bars within 25 mi
- 15 coffee shops within 25 mi
- No music venues & clubs within 25 mi
- 16 museums within 25 mi
- 2 breweries & distilleries within 25 mi
- 60 mi to the nearest farmers market
Everyday
- Schools in the bottom 11% of Illinois districts (reading)
- 10 mi to the nearest grocery store
- 11 mi to the nearest ER hospital
- 11 mi to a 4–5★ hospital
- 12 mi to the nearest vet
- 10 mi to the nearest dog park
- 11 congregations per 10k people
- 10 mi to the nearest college
Politics
- Adams County: R+47 in 2024
- Illinois: D+11 in 2024
Natural hazards
- Very low hurricane risk
- High tornado risk
- Very low wildfire risk
- Low earthquake risk
- Low flood risk
- Very low drought risk
- Moderate winter storm risk
- Moderate heat wave risk
- Very low volcano risk