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Place dossier plate
SheetIL-GALESBURG-IL · Galesburg, IL 29,653 pop · income 13th pct · 16 tracts
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 Galesburg
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Galesburg on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Campbell · lowest
45,208
Campbell · lowest
45,208 median HH income
27.9% of the leader · rank #1
Rock Port · near
45,208
Rock Port · near
45,208 median HH income
27.9% of the leader · rank #2
Central City · near
45,208
Central City · near
45,208 median HH income
27.9% of the leader · rank #3
Galesburg · this city
45,213
Galesburg · this city
45,213 median HH income
27.9% of the leader · rank #4
Saugerties · near
45,213
Saugerties · near
45,213 median HH income
27.9% of the leader · rank #5
Highland Park · highest
161,875
Highland Park · highest
161,875 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #6
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 Galesburg 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: 29,653.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Galesburg - the verdict
Galesburg ranks in the 13th percentile for household income and the 11th percentile for safety nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
13th
percentile, household income
6th
percentile, home value
18th
percentile, median rent
11th
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: Galesburg, IL
Galesburg is a small city in Illinois, home to 29,653 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Galesburg households earn a median of $45,213 annually, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 13.9%. Typical homes in Galesburg are valued around $89,800, and the median resident age is 41.2 years. Educational attainment runs 19.3% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 47.2% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 0 residential units authorized here in 2024 (No Permits). Galesburg's reported crime rate runs above the national norm: FBI UCR figures show 3478.4 crimes per 100,000 residents, above the national average (reporting is voluntary across agencies, so treat this as reporting activity rather than a definitive danger score). NOAA puts Galesburg's yearly average temperature at 50.2°F with 39.0 inches of precipitation per year and 25.9 inches of snowfall.
Illinois tracks close to the national cost-of-living baseline: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts Illinois at 100.0 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Near Average). 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. Workers in Galesburg report an average commute of 15.2 minutes, with 75.4% driving alone and 5.7% working from home. FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 54.5 out of 100 (Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Galesburg'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 climate and hazard context to comparison shortlist to schools and households to reported crime to housing and income to within-city variation to work and mobility to population change; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Galesburg, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, within-city Census tract profiles, matched public-school count, commute-mode shares, FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
Question 1
What physical conditions frame life in Galesburg?
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 50.2°F, with 39.0 inches of precipitation and 25.9 inches of annual snowfall. FEMA's state-averaged National Risk Index score for Illinois is 54.5 out of 100. Climate normals describe long-run weather; the FEMA score on PlainCities is a state average of county NRI inputs and combines hazards, exposure, vulnerability, and resilience.
The two sources should not be blended into one comfort or safety score. Use the climate values for baseline conditions and the risk index as a prompt to inspect specific hazards, insurance, and local emergency guidance for a particular address.
Which cities make useful reference points for Galesburg?
Within Illinois, the closest population matches are Algonquin (29,904 residents, $131,753 income); Highland Park (30,229 residents, $161,875 income); Niles (30,262 residents, $78,563 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Hobart, IN (29,646 residents); Schererville, IN (29,627 residents); Central, LA (29,603 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.
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.
What does the education layer cover for Galesburg?
The NCES join finds 6 public schools within the city match. 19.3% 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.
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.
What can 16 Census tracts reveal inside Galesburg?
That layer breaks the citywide income, rent, and home-value medians into smaller Census geographies, which can reveal differences that one municipal median necessarily hides. A tract is a statistical area, not a locally defined neighborhood or a promise about conditions on a particular block. Start with the city profile for the broad comparison, then use the tract layer to test whether the same housing and income pattern is consistent across the city. Large within-city spreads are a reason to avoid treating any citywide median as a universal resident experience.
PlainCities matches 16 Census tracts to this city.
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 Galesburg?
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.
The joined FBI UCR record reports 3478.4 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, above the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 53% higher in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Property rate
2965.6
Violent rate
512.7
Total reported rate
3478.4
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
How far does income reach against housing in Galesburg?
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 2.0 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 13.9%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
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.
Household income
$45,213
Home value
$89,800
Value / income
2.0×
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
What does the journey to work look like in Galesburg?
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. No single mode completely explains the work trip here. The mix is more useful than a one-number commute grade, especially when comparing places where transit, walking, and remote work divide the non-driving share differently.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 75.4%. The reported mean trip to work is 15.2 minutes.
Public transit
0.8%
Work from home
5.7%
Drive alone
75.4%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 11,508 workers age 16+.
Is Galesburg growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
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.
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -1,368 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -4.6% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 0 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Period change
-4.6%
2025 estimate
28,581
2020 estimate
29,949
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
Above-average cost · BEA RPP 2024, Illinois average
F
City profile score · Galesburg, IL
24/100
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.
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.
Bachelor's+ share F
19.3%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate F
13.9%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime F
513 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Household income F
$45,213
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Galesburg profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 40/100 (D) · 100.0 index
Bachelor's+ share: 32/100 (F) · 19.3%
Poverty rate: 25/100 (F) · 13.9%
Violent crime: 15/100 (F) · 513 /100k
Household income: 14/100 (F) · $45,213
Where Galesburg sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Galesburg'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 - Galesburg highlighted among 11 peers.Read the chart values
Galesburg, IL (this city): home $89,800, crime 3,478/100k
Hobart, IN : home $203,400, crime 2,423/100k
Schererville, IN : home $294,600, crime 1,389/100k
Laurel, MD : home $367,300, crime 5,255/100k
Raytown, MO : home $162,000, crime 4,602/100k
Algonquin, IL : home $324,000, crime 1,238/100k
Highland Park, IL : home $594,400, crime 861/100k
Niles, IL : home $350,900, crime 2,278/100k
Lake in the Hills, IL : home $296,400, crime 508/100k
Burbank, IL : home $258,900, crime 2,163/100k
Gurnee, IL : home $331,100, crime 2,410/100k
How does Galesburg compare to other US cities?
Here's how Galesburg stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income13% higher than other cities
Home value6% pricier than other cities
Median rent18% pricier than other cities
Safety11% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
Zoom in to just Illinois and the picture shifts: Galesburg ranks #431 of 455 Illinois cities by lowest crime rate, a different read than the national percentile above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Galesburg 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 Galesburg near the bottom of Illinois's cities
Among the 1,336 Illinois cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Galesburg ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Galesburg only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#1,185 of 1,311
10th percentile in Illinois
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,336
0th percentile in Illinois
Median Home Value
#937 of 1,315
29th percentile in Illinois
Poverty Rate
#284 of 1,335
78th percentile in Illinois
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#607 of 1,336
54th 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
13th percentile nationally for median household income · 11th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Galesburg's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Galesburg'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 Galesburg's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$89,800Among the most affordablemore affordable than 94% 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
Galesburg's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.0×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#1,579 of 15,516
More affordable than 90% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#63 of 3,317
Small cities (10,000–49,999)
At 2.0×, Galesburg sits in the affordable band:
national rank #1,579 of 15,516 and #63 of 3,317small cities (10,000–49,999).
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
$45,213Galesburg, IL median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Galesburg, 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 Galesburg, IL.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)19.3%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)13.9%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)47.2%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
29,653
Median Income
$45,213
Median Home Value
$89,800
Median Age
41.2
Poverty Rate
13.9%
Labor force participation
47.2%
Bachelor's Degree+
19.3%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
3478.4
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
512.7
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
2965.6
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.
Climate
Avg Temperature
50.2°F
Annual Precipitation
39.0"
Annual Snowfall
25.9"
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
Galesburg's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
29,949 residents
2021
29,618 residents
2022
29,269 residents
2023
28,846 residents
2024
28,696 residents
2025
28,581 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
Total Permits (2024)
0
housing units authorized
Single-Family
0
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
0
0
0
-
2020
0
0
0
-
2021
1
1
0
$0.2M
2022
1
1
0
$0.7M
2023
0
0
0
-
2024
0
0
0
-
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
15.2 minutes
Drive Alone
75.4%
Carpool
11.3%
Public Transit
0.8%
Walk
5.6%
Work from Home
5.7%
Other
1.2%
Based on 11,508 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 Galesburg. 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 Galesburg 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 Galesburg sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Galesburg 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, FBI UCR, NOAA Climate Normals, 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.