Written by AI Claude Sonnet 5.5 wrote this on 23 October 2026 from the figures here, a list of nearby places and what it knows. It can be wrong or out of date.

What it’s like

The place. Belleville is a city where incomes run below the county's and a good share of residents live below the poverty line, though most homes are lived in by their owners. Typical home values and rents are modest, and residents are of an age close to that of the country as a whole. Winters are cold, with January highs staying well above freezing but lows dropping below it, and summers turn hot by July. Snow falls a little each year, and the town gets a fair amount of rain across the seasons.

Work. Many residents work in schools, hospitals and social care, with shops, professional and business services, and restaurants and hotels also employing a lot of people. Among the largest workplaces in Belleville are Memorial Hospital, Belleville Schools and Empire Comfort Systems. Unemployment has eased compared with a year ago, though St. Clair County has seen slightly fewer jobs than the year before. A four-year degree is held by a smaller share of adults than in many places, and the typical commute is of moderate length, with some people working from home.

Things to do. A longer drive brings you to some of the region's best known places. Gateway Arch National Park is a national park along the river, and Cahokia is an archaeological site that tells of the area's earliest cities. The Saint Louis Zoo is also a longer drive away, and it suits a day out with family.