Brighton is a part of the Metro East region of the St. Louis Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Brighton is a small community that dates back to the early 19th century, when settlers began the transformation of the Illinois prairie into productive farmland.

[citation needed] Brighton currently has two restaurants and one traffic signal.

Some rural residents of Madison County have Brighton mailing addresses.

22.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

Of the total population, 7.7% of those under the age of 18 and 8.2% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.