Wood River is a city in Madison County, Illinois. The population was 10,464 as of the 2020 census. Geography Wood River is located in western Madison County at (38.863047, -90.088527). It is on the Mississippi River approximately upstream of downtown St. Louis, Missouri, among several contiguous cities and villages that have come to be known as the "Riverbend" area. The current confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers is just south of one of these neighboring villages, Hartford. Wood River is bordered to the northwest by East Alton, to the north by Rosewood Heights, to the northeast by Bethalto, to the southeast by Roxana, to the south by Hartford, and to the southwest, across the Mississippi River, by West Alton, Missouri. Illinois Route 3 passes through the west side of the city, leading north to the north side of Alton and south to East St. Louis. Illinois Route 143 passes through the center of Wood River as Madison Avenue, leading northwest to the center of Alton and southeast to Edwardsville. Illinois Route 111 follows Central Avenue through the center of Wood River, leading north to the west part of Bethalto and south to Washington Park. Illinois Route 255, a four-lane limited-access highway, passes through the east side of Wood River, leading northwest to Godfrey and south to Collinsville. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Wood River has a total area of , of which are land and , or 3.47%, are water. Demographics At the 2000 census there were 11,296 people, 4,725 households, and 2,995 families living in the city. The population density was . There were 5,001 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 97.57% White, 0.63% African American, 0.27% Native American, 0.45% Asian, 0.35% from other races, and 0.73% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.21%. Of the 4,725 households 29.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.2% were married couples living together, 13.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.6% were non-families. 31.7% of households were one person and 14.7% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 2.96. The age distribution was 24.1% under the age of 18, 10.2% from 18 to 24, 28.7% from 25 to 44, 20.1% from 45 to 64,