Photo of Murphysboro, IL
( 4 Ratings )

Living in Murphysboro, IL

Murphysboro Area Facts

  • Murphysboro has a Livability Score of 54/100, which is considered poor
  • Murphysboro crime rates are 88% higher than the Illinois average
  • Cost of living in Murphysboro is 17% lower than the Illinois average
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Murphysboro Reviews

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Don't plan on sleeping or relaxing. Ever. 0.5 rating By Anonymous ( Nov 15, 2018) I'm doing some work at a local hospital and decided to take out a year-long lease nearby. Before leasing, I'd done a lot of research--calling owners to ask about noise, safety... I was too trusting. From out of state, I heard from owners that Murphysboro, IL is quaint, quiet, and ...Read More peaceful. I'd done a year rotation just before in a neighboring state with railroad tracks running through/around town. After 16 hour days, I desperately needed sleep but the train horns were so loud not even 3M Peltor safety earmuffs could drown out the sound. So I was very sure to ask about trains in/near Murphysboro. "No problem at all! You'll never hear them." The very same lie the property owners in Missouri had told me.There are, I've learned, FOUR major train lines running through Murphysboro. They blare their horns--not in the FRA required 1-long-and-2-short pattern--but incessantly. The engineers Lay. On. The. Horns. for minutes at a time. And the trains come through multiple times an hour. They don't stop at night. Nor on holidays. It's every single day-- blood-curdling horns. But no property owner will tell you this. Nor did I see the characteristic rail symbols when I did a Google maps search of the address. If I had, I never would have accepted this clinical assignment. I'm no good to patients if I can't get any sleep.And in between the train horns you've got emergency vehicle sirens. Every day. There must be 10 people living in Murphysboro, but there's a need for sirens blaring through town at 2AM... Oh, and whenever the sun is out and it's over 35-Fahrenheit outside, every motorcycle with extra loud pipes in the state comes to Murphysboro to rev up and down, not main streets, but small, "quaint," residential streets. From 6AM 'til after midnight. And to make sure you're watching them, they'll often just stop in the middle of your tiny residential road to rev their pipes extra loud and extra long. For upwards of a half-hour. Just to make sure you know they're there. You've seen that South Park episode... Well, these are those guys.Then there are the cars with the thud-thud-thud super stereos. I learned my first day at work here that Murphysboro is the home of the loud car. People here are proud of how noisy their vehicles are--loud music and extra-loud custom exhausts. All frickin' day and night long, even if you're living on a small residential street.If it weren't for my job contract, I'd leave and break my lease, even if I had to pay for the remaining months of the year. Nothing else about a community matters when you can't get to sleep and on your day off you can't even sit in your living room and read a book or do online research even with industrial strength hearing protectors on. And no, I'm not extra-sensitive. My home condo is in Downtown Seattle, a major US metropolis. But we don't have a fascination with super loud motorcycles or cars/trucks, and we don't have trains screaming bloody murder through the region for minutes at a time every 10-minutes.Murphysboro, IL exhibits the worst combination of none of the attractions of a modern city/urban community and more than all the noise of a very large city. Can't wait to put this bad memory behind me. Google the proven medical effects of noise pollution on human physiology. US and international health experts now recognize chronic, unabated noise pollution as a significant health threat--even for those who claim the noise doesn't bother them (like smokers may claim cigarette smoke doesn't bother them--though it still negatively impacts their physiology). Chronic, uncontrollable noise is a documented public health threat. And Murphysboro, IL has it in spades. Read Less
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Compare Murphysboro, IL Livability

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      F Amenities

      Are there many local amenities in Murphysboro? Well, there are not many amenities close to this location.

      Parks

      Parkview Park
      Town Square
      Town Center Park
      Longfellow Park
      Riverside Park
      Lake Murphysboro State Park

      Entertainment

      ps
      Douglass School Art Place
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      Food & Drink

      Hardee's
      The Old Rome

      F Commute

      Is public transit available in Murphysboro? Of all people who commute, 0.0% take public transportation in Murphysboro.
      Drive to Work
      80%

      3% higher than the US average

      Take Public Transit
      0%

      5% lower than the US average

      Walk to Work
      1%

      2% lower than the US average

      D+ Health & Safety

      Is Murphysboro a healthy and safe place to live? Yes, there are some hospitals, police and fire stations.

      Hospitals

      Saint Joseph Memorial Hospital

      Pharmacies

      Doctors