The city is part of the Effingham, IL Micropolitan Statistical Area.

For this reason, Effingham has a much broader range of restaurants and lodging facilities than typical towns of its size.

It officially comes into Effingham was a cross Directional T interchange with Interstate 70 west towards St. Louis.

It makes its first with W Fayette Avenue and then takes a short curve east and makes a half diamond and half partial cloverleaf interchange with N Keller Drive and Illinois Route 33.

33.26% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.64% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

[8] In 1859, it became the county seat with buildings relocated from nearby (now deserted) Ewington.

[11] On April 4, 1949, St. Anthony's Hospital caught fire and burned to the ground, killing 74 people.

Due to extensive media coverage, including a Life magazine cover story,[12] donations for rebuilding the hospital came from all 48 states and several foreign countries.

Amtrak, the national passenger rail system, provides service to Effingham under the daily City of New Orleans route to New Orleans and Chicago, and the Saluki and Illini to Chicago and Carbondale.

The private schools are both religiously affiliated and include Saint Anthony and Sacred Heart.

The Early Learning Center serves preschool and kindergarten age children.

[18] The former EHS building, built in 1939 as a WPA project and expanded in 1965, is currently the junior high, serving grades 6–8.

EHS athletics were originally known as the Warriors but the name was changed after Ada Kepley, a city resident, referred to Effingham as the "Heart of America" in a campaign to attract visitors to the city.

[20] Comedians and authors have poked fun at the "Effing" portion of the name Effingham and its use in North American and UK slang as a minced oath for the word "fuck".

[25] Ben Folds's album Way to Normal uses a similar play on words in a track that was inspired by driving past Effingham, although the song refers to the city as "Effington".