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Place dossier plate
SheetIL-DAHLGREN-IL · Dahlgren, IL 631 pop · income 16th 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 Dahlgren
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Dahlgren on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Evansville · lowest
39,063
Evansville · lowest
39,063 median HH income
37.7% of the leader · rank #1
Dahlgren · this city
47,500
Dahlgren · this city
47,500 median HH income
45.8% of the leader · rank #2
Andalusia · near
47,500
Andalusia · near
47,500 median HH income
45.8% of the leader · rank #3
Elkmont · near
47,500
Elkmont · near
47,500 median HH income
45.8% of the leader · rank #4
Alpena · near
47,500
Alpena · near
47,500 median HH income
45.8% of the leader · rank #5
Portland · near
47,500
Portland · near
47,500 median HH income
45.8% of the leader · rank #6
New Jerusalem · highest
103,750
New Jerusalem · highest
103,750 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
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Dahlgren on ACS population and median household income
. 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: 631.
Dahlgren ranks in the 16th percentile for household income nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS.
16th
percentile, household income
2nd
percentile, home value
18th
percentile, median rent
📝 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: Dahlgren, IL
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 631 residents in Dahlgren, a small town within Illinois. Households in Dahlgren report a median income of $47,500 per year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 16.2%. Typical homes in Dahlgren are valued around $68,800, and the median resident age is 37.3 years. Educational attainment runs 7.1% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 48.0% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The city is served by 1 public schools according to NCES Common Core of Data.
Illinois tracks close to the national cost-of-living baseline: on BEA's 100-equals-national-average cost index, Illinois scores 100.0 (Near Average), per the 2024 Regional Price Parities release. Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $1,063 monthly. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Illinois run around $240, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. Natural-hazard exposure scores 54.5 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Dahlgren'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 housing and income to comparison shortlist to work and mobility to population change to schools and households; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Dahlgren, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, matched public-school count, commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for local building permits, within-city Census tract profiles, FBI reported-crime rates; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Housing and income
How far does income reach against housing in Dahlgren?
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. The ratio makes housing the clearest place to start this profile, but a low multiple can coexist with slow demand, older stock, or household-level hardship. Compare the home-value distribution and same-state peer table before treating it as an advantage.
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 1.4 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 16.2%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Which cities make useful reference points for Dahlgren?
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.
Within Illinois, the closest population matches are Coffeen (630 residents, $63,125 income); New Boston (632 residents, $61,563 income); Noble (630 residents, $43,977 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Upton, KY (631 residents); Parkdale, MI (631 residents); Evansville, MN (631 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.
What does the journey to work look like in Dahlgren?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 90.3%. 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.
Is Dahlgren growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -8 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -1.6% change. No comparable local building-permit series is available here, so population change should not be read as a housing-supply measure. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Recent estimates point downward. A falling count can reflect migration, household size, annexation boundaries, or estimation noise, so it is a prompt to inspect the full series rather than a claim about local economic health.
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.
Schools and households
What does the education layer cover for Dahlgren?
The matched institution count is small, so district boundaries and schools outside the city line may matter more than the municipal count suggests. Use the number as a coverage cue, then verify attendance zones with the district before making a household decision.
The NCES join finds 1 public school within the city match. 7.1% 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
16.2%
Bachelor's degree+
7.1%
Matched public schools
1
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
Above-average cost · BEA RPP 2024, Illinois average
F
City profile score · Dahlgren, IL
20/100
4 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.
Cost of living D
100.0 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Poverty rate F
16.2%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$47,500
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
7.1%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Dahlgren profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 40/100 (D) · 100.0 index
Poverty rate: 20/100 (F) · 16.2%
Household income: 17/100 (F) · $47,500
Bachelor's+ share: 0/100 (F) · 7.1%
How does Dahlgren compare to other US cities?
Dahlgren measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income16% higher than other cities
Home value2% pricier than other cities
Median rent18% pricier than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Dahlgren against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Illinois only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Illinois-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Dahlgren near the bottom of Illinois's cities
Among the 1,336 Illinois cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Dahlgren ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Dahlgren only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#1,141 of 1,311
13th percentile in Illinois
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,336
0th percentile in Illinois
Median Home Value
#1,185 of 1,315
10th percentile in Illinois
Poverty Rate
#204 of 1,335
85th percentile in Illinois
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#1,196 of 1,336
10th percentile in Illinois
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 Illinois only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
16th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Dahlgren's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$68,800Among the most affordablemore affordable than 98% 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
Dahlgren's home-value-to-income ratio: 1.4×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#323 of 15,516
More affordable than 98% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#317 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 1.4×, Dahlgren sits in the affordable band:
national rank #323 of 15,516 and #317 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
The multiple is comparatively compact among tracked cities, but a low ratio can still coexist with slow demand or household-level hardship.
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
$47,500Dahlgren, IL median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Dahlgren, IL median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Dahlgren, IL.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)7.1%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)16.2%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)48.0%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
631
Median Income
$47,500
Median Home Value
$68,800
Median Age
37.3
Poverty Rate
16.2%
Labor force participation
48.0%
Bachelor's Degree+
7.1%
Schools
Total Schools
1
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Dahlgren's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
503 residents
2021
498 residents
2022
502 residents
2023
497 residents
2024
495 residents
2025
495 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
90.3%
Carpool
3.4%
Public Transit
1.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
5.3%
Based on 206 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Illinois statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $240
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Illinois at $240 (electricity about $100 , water and sewer about $50 ).
These are Illinois statewide averages, not a meter reading for Dahlgren. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Illinois's BEA cost-of-living index is 100.0 (Near Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Dahlgren is $1,063/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Illinois statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 54.5 / 100 (Low).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Illinois statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Dahlgren sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Dahlgren compares to similar-size Illinois 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, NCES CCD, 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.