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Place dossier plate
SheetCA-WILLIAMS-CA · Williams, CA 5,569 pop · income 73rd pct
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around Williams
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Williams on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Kaser · lowest
28,295
Kaser · lowest
28,295 median HH income
15.1% of the leader · rank #1
Prince's Lakes · near
93,125
Prince's Lakes · near
93,125 median HH income
49.8% of the leader · rank #2
San Lorenzo · near
93,125
San Lorenzo · near
93,125 median HH income
49.8% of the leader · rank #3
Minoa · near
93,125
Minoa · near
93,125 median HH income
49.8% of the leader · rank #4
Alexandria · near
93,125
Alexandria · near
93,125 median HH income
49.8% of the leader · rank #5
Williams · this city
93,138
Williams · this city
93,138 median HH income
49.8% of the leader · rank #6
La Habra Heig… · highest
186,837
La Habra Heig… · highest
186,837 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income, and FBI crime rate
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Williams on ACS population and median household income
, plus FBI UCR reporting rate when the extract covers this place. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 5,569.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Williams - the verdict
Nationally, Williams sits in the 73rd percentile for household income and the 46th percentile for safety among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
73rd
percentile, household income
71st
percentile, home value
88th
percentile, median rent
46th
percentile, safety
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: Williams, CA
Williams is a small town in California, home to 5,569 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. The typical household in Williams brings in $93,138 a year, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 5.5%. Typical homes in Williams are valued around $339,900, and the median resident age is 30.5 years. Educational attainment runs 15.0% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 65.0% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 36 residential building permits were authorized in Williams (Rapid Growth), up 24% from five years earlier, per Census BPS data. Williams reports a comparatively low crime rate: per-100,000 total crime stands at 1506.6 in FBI UCR data, below the national average (a voluntary reporting program, read this as reporting activity, not a definitive danger score).
California carries a cost-of-living premium: on BEA's 100-equals-national-average cost index, California scores 110.7 (Well Above Average), per the 2024 Regional Price Parities release. Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $2,053 monthly. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts California's average monthly utility costs around $275 (state average). Natural-hazard exposure scores 88.7 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (Very High).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Williams's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from population change to work and mobility to housing and income to comparison shortlist to reported crime to schools and households; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Williams, city-specific coverage includes matched public-school count, annual population history, commute-mode shares, local building permits, FBI reported-crime rates.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
Is Williams growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -16 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -0.3% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 36 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
The recent population line is broadly flat. That makes the composition of change more important than the headline count: housing turnover, household size, and age structure can shift even when the total barely moves.
What does the journey to work look like in Williams?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 85.5%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. The profile is strongly car-oriented, so a relocation comparison should put trip distance, vehicle access, and household fuel costs ahead of a citywide commute average. The same-state peer links offer a more relevant benchmark than a national label.
How far does income reach against housing in Williams?
This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. Income and home value move within the same broad scale here. The useful next check is not a generic affordability label, but whether similar-size cities offer a materially different income, housing, or commute trade-off.
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.6 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 5.5%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Which cities make useful reference points for Williams?
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
Within California, the closest population matches are McSwain (5,556 residents, $140,173 income); East Pasadena (5,592 residents, $105,714 income); La Habra Heights (5,546 residents, $186,837 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Belleview, FL (5,569 residents); Laie, HI (5,568 residents); White Rock, NM (5,568 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
These joined records add useful context, but they do not need another full-size panel. Each remains a separate measure with its own geography and source boundary.
Reported crime
What can the FBI record say about safety in Williams?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 1506.6 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 34% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Treat this as a reporting-rate comparison, not a prediction of personal risk or a neighborhood-level safety grade. Tourism, daytime population, reporting practices, and variation inside the city are not adjusted away. The state rank and same-state peer table are the narrower comparisons available on this page.
Total reported rate
1506.6
Violent rate
620.3
Property rate
886.2
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
The city has a broader matched school footprint, but count alone does not describe performance, capacity, program availability, or attendance boundaries. This profile deliberately avoids converting it into an unsupported family-friendliness score.
The NCES join finds 6 public schools within the city match. 15.0% of adults age 25+ hold a bachelor's degree or higher in the ACS estimate. These measures answer different questions: the school count describes local institutions, while adult attainment describes residents and cannot be used as a school-quality rating.
Poverty estimate
5.5%
Bachelor's degree+
15.0%
Matched public schools
6
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
Above median income · poverty 5.5% (Below-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
110.7 (US=100)
Highest-decile cost · BEA RPP 2024, California average
F
City profile score · Williams, CA
36/100
5 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2023
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Household income B
$93,138
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate C+
5.5%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share F
15.0%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Violent crime F
620 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Cost of living F
110.7 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Williams profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Household income: 72/100 (B) · $93,138
Poverty rate: 62/100 (C+) · 5.5%
Bachelor's+ share: 20/100 (F) · 15.0%
Violent crime: 9/100 (F) · 620 /100k
Cost of living: 6/100 (F) · 110.7 index
Where Williams sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Williams's median home value and FBI crime rate plotted with similar-size and
same-state peers (padded with large cities when the peer set is thin). The second
read: pricey does not always mean safer, check which quadrant this city lands in.
Census ACS median home value vs FBI UCR crime rate - Williams highlighted among 24 peers.Read the chart values
Williams, CA (this city): home $339,900, crime 1,507/100k
Belleview, FL : home $183,400, crime 3,435/100k
La Habra Heights, CA : home $1,114,100, crime 853/100k
Holtville, CA : home $268,800, crime 415/100k
New York, NY : home $751,700, crime 3,039/100k
Los Angeles, CA : home $879,500, crime 2,212/100k
Chicago, IL : home $315,200, crime 4,012/100k
Houston, TX : home $253,400, crime 5,442/100k
Phoenix, AZ : home $381,900, crime 3,125/100k
Philadelphia, PA : home $232,400, crime 5,457/100k
San Antonio, TX : home $219,700, crime 5,218/100k
San Diego, CA : home $848,500, crime 2,082/100k
Dallas, TX : home $295,300, crime 4,010/100k
San Jose, CA : home $1,187,800, crime 3,195/100k
Austin, TX : home $512,700, crime 3,709/100k
Fort Worth, TX : home $277,300, crime 3,158/100k
Columbus, OH : home $234,500, crime 3,088/100k
Indianapolis, IN : home $207,000, crime 4,214/100k
San Francisco, CA : home $1,380,500, crime 4,526/100k
Seattle, WA : home $912,100, crime 5,783/100k
Denver, CO : home $586,700, crime 5,755/100k
Oklahoma City, OK : home $215,100, crime 3,570/100k
El Paso, TX : home $171,700, crime 1,772/100k
Washington, DC : home $724,600, crime 4,514/100k
How does Williams compare to other US cities?
Williams measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income73% higher than other cities
Home value71% pricier than other cities
Median rent88% pricier than other cities
Safety46% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
National percentiles can mask local variation. Looking only at California, Williams ranks #146 of 441 California cities by lowest crime rate - a narrower, more locally useful cut than the national comparison above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Williams against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to California only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
California-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Williams near the bottom of California's cities
Among the 1,458 California cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Williams ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Williams only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#592 of 1,338
56th percentile in California
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,458
0th percentile in California
Median Home Value
#985 of 1,343
27th percentile in California
Poverty Rate
#791 of 1,450
45th percentile in California
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#1,047 of 1,458
28th percentile in California
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within California only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
73rd percentile nationally for median household income · 46th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Williams's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Williams's percentile rank on 3 favorable-direction measures (income, affordability, safety) vs. every tracked US city -- higher on every axis is more favorable. Not a composite quality score, just the arithmetic mean of the axes shown.
How Williams's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$339,90029th percentilemore affordable than 29% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023
Williams's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.6×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#9,545 of 15,516
More affordable than 38% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#7,621 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 3.6×, Williams sits in the moderate band:
national rank #9,545 of 15,516 and #7,621 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
Income and home value move in the same broad scale; check same-state peers before treating the multiple as an advantage or a warning.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$93,138Williams, CA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Williams, CA median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Williams, CA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)15.0%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)5.5%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)65.0%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
5,569
Median Income
$93,138
Median Home Value
$339,900
Median Age
30.5
Poverty Rate
5.5%
Labor force participation
65.0%
Bachelor's Degree+
15.0%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
1506.6
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
620.3
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
886.2
per 100,000 residents
Crime reporting caveat
Reflects incidents reported to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program — agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies by jurisdiction and year, so this reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score. Not adjusted for tourism, commuter, or daytime population.
Schools
Total Schools
6
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Williams's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
5,545 residents
2021
5,561 residents
2022
5,581 residents
2023
5,602 residents
2024
5,587 residents
2025
5,529 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Rapid Growth
Total Permits (2024)
36
housing units authorized
Single-Family
1
detached homes
Multifamily
35
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
6.5
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
29
29
0
$4.0M
2020
1
1
0
$0.1M
2021
23
23
0
$4.7M
2022
2
2
0
$0.1M
2023
1
1
0
$0.1M
2024
36
1
35
$3.3M
Permit volume increased 24% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
85.5%
Carpool
10.9%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.3%
Work from Home
1.7%
Other
1.6%
Based on 2,446 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
California statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $275
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across California at $275 (electricity about $150 , water and sewer about $70 ).
These are California statewide averages, not a meter reading for Williams. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
California's BEA cost-of-living index is 110.7 (Well Above Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Williams is $2,053/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to California statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 88.7 / 100 (Very High).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a California statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Williams sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Williams compares to similar-size California cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, FBI UCR, NCES CCD, Census BPS 2024, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.