Johnson County (county seat: Vienna) is a scenic, rural county in southern “Little Egypt” Illinois, known for Shawnee Hills scenery and outdoor recreation. Primary towns include Vienna, Goreville, Buncombe, Ozark, New Burnside, Simpson and Belknap. Housing is mostly single-family homes, cabins and farmhouses, with some newer rural retreats near forested parcels. Recent market aggregates put many county homes in the $180k–$260k neighborhood on average; construction costs in Illinois suggest $120–$200 per sq ft for new homes (so a typical 1,800 sq ft build ~$216k–$360k before lot and site work). The county is about 25–35 miles from Carbondale (regional city with university services) and roughly 130–150 miles from St. Louis, offering rural life with reachable urban amenities