Watson is a village in Effingham County, Illinois, home to about 620 people across 1.1 square miles. Its ZIP code is 62473.
Homes sold for a median of $120 per square foot in the three months ending August 2026.
Each card is that ZIP code’s whole market, including any part outside Watson. Seller’s market: under 4 months of supply; buyer’s market: over 6. Methodology
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| Nearest major airport | St. Louis Lambert International Airport (STL)99 miles away |
|---|---|
| Closer regional airport | Decatur Airport (DEC)61 miles away |
| Nearest city of 250,000+ | St. Louis, MO94 miles away |
| Nearest city of 1 million+ | Chicago, IL202 miles away |
Straight-line distances from the center of Watson; driving is longer.
Source: Airports from OurAirports (scheduled passenger service); city centers and populations from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Source: Members of Congress from the congress-legislators project; districts from the Census Bureau’s relationship files; governor and mayor from Wikidata.
Watson had 668 residents in the 2020 census, down 8% since 2000.
It’s the 861st largest of 1,450 towns in Illinois by population.
Effingham County grew from 20,465 residents in 1900 to 34,668 in 2020.
Effingham County, 1900–2020
Source: U.S. Census Bureau decennial censuses (counties 1900–1990 from the Bureau’s historical county file).
Average highs peak around 89°F in summer, and winter lows average 20°F. About 44 inches of rain and melted snow fall in a typical year, with about 15 inches of snow.
Source: NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals, Effingham 3sw, IL weather station (9 miles away).
32,183 jobs at 1,263 businesses in Effingham County. The biggest industries by employees:
Source: U.S. Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023 (private employers; jobs counted where people work).
1 doctors and other health care providers list an office in Watson.
Nearest hospitals
Providers with an office here
| Nurse practitioners and physician assistants | 1 |
|---|
Source: Hospitals from CMS Hospital General Information (ratings are CMS overall star ratings); straight-line distances; providers from the CMS National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES), by practice address and primary specialty.
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Town boundaries don’t always match ZIP codes: a ZIP code can cross into neighboring towns, and a town can share a ZIP code with its neighbors. Facts describe the town itself; market figures describe whole ZIP codes.