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Place dossier plate
SheetIL-LAKE-BLUFF-IL · Lake Bluff, IL 5,834 pop · income 98th 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 Lake Bluff
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Lake Bluff on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Attalla · lowest
55,429
Attalla · lowest
55,429 median HH income
26.9% of the leader · rank #1
Lake Bluff · this city
205,735
Lake Bluff · this city
205,735 median HH income
99.8% of the leader · rank #2
Jacksontown · near
205,833
Jacksontown · near
205,833 median HH income
99.9% of the leader · rank #3
Meridian Hills · near
205,982
Meridian Hills · near
205,982 median HH income
99.9% of the leader · rank #4
New Seabury · near
206,000
New Seabury · near
206,000 median HH income
99.9% of the leader · rank #5
Sea Girt · near
206,000
Sea Girt · near
206,000 median HH income
99.9% of the leader · rank #6
South Duxbury · highest
206,111
South Duxbury · highest
206,111 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 Lake Bluff 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: 5,834.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Lake Bluff - the verdict
Lake Bluff ranks in the 98th percentile for household income and the 69th percentile for safety nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
98th
percentile, household income
94th
percentile, home value
18th
percentile, median rent
69th
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: Lake Bluff, IL
Illinois's Lake Bluff is a small town, with 5,834 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Households in Lake Bluff report a median income of $205,735 per year, placing it in the top quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 1.9%. Home values in Lake Bluff run a median of $739,400, and the median resident age is 44.9 years. About 81.8% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 60.8% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 2 residential units authorized here in 2024 (Construction Slowdown), down 50% from five years earlier. Lake Bluff reports a comparatively low crime rate: the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program logs 871.3 total incidents per 100,000 residents here, below the national average (agency reporting is voluntary, so this measures reporting activity, not a definitive danger score).
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. 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 Lake Bluff'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 schools and households to work and mobility to reported crime to comparison shortlist to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Lake Bluff, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, commute-mode shares, local building permits, FBI reported-crime rates, matched public-school count.
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 Lake Bluff growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -46 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -0.8% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 2 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 education layer cover for Lake Bluff?
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 2 public schools within the city match. 81.8% 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.
What does the journey to work look like in Lake Bluff?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 51.9%. 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. Remote work has a visible role in the local pattern. That can reduce commute exposure for some workers, but it says nothing about job availability or broadband quality; read it alongside income and housing rather than as a stand-alone lifestyle score.
Which cities make useful reference points for Lake Bluff?
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 Illinois, the closest population matches are Peoria Heights (5,834 residents, $62,083 income); Carterville (5,822 residents, $65,238 income); Bartonville (5,854 residents, $67,674 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Polk City, IA (5,833 residents); Eaton, CO (5,832 residents); Attalla, AL (5,829 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 Lake Bluff?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 871.3 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 62% 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
871.3
Violent rate
36.3
Property rate
835.0
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
How far does income reach against housing in Lake Bluff?
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 1.9%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Value / income
3.6×
Home value
$739,400
Household income
$205,735
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Above-average cost · BEA RPP 2024, Illinois average
A-
City profile score · Lake Bluff, IL
83/100
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 A+
$205,735
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share A+
81.8%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Violent crime A
36 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Poverty rate A
1.9%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
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.
Lake Bluff profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Household income: 100/100 (A+) · $205,735
Bachelor's+ share: 100/100 (A+) · 81.8%
Violent crime: 87/100 (A) · 36 /100k
Poverty rate: 86/100 (A) · 1.9%
Cost of living: 40/100 (D) · 100.0 index
Where Lake Bluff sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Lake Bluff'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 - Lake Bluff highlighted among 12 peers.Read the chart values
Lake Bluff, IL (this city): home $739,400, crime 871/100k
Polk City, IA : home $385,000, crime 320/100k
Eaton, CO : home $448,800, crime 858/100k
Attalla, AL : home $120,400, crime 3,957/100k
Byron, GA : home $230,100, crime 1,227/100k
Mulvane, KS : home $168,900, crime 698/100k
Richmond, MI : home $228,000, crime 687/100k
Peoria Heights, IL : home $118,000, crime 3,474/100k
Bartonville, IL : home $128,000, crime 2,408/100k
Spring Grove, IL : home $371,200, crime 416/100k
Willow Springs, IL : home $370,900, crime 390/100k
Lakemoor, IL : home $261,300, crime 1,439/100k
How does Lake Bluff compare to other US cities?
Lake Bluff measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income98% higher than other cities
Home value94% pricier than other cities
Median rent18% pricier than other cities
Safety69% 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: Lake Bluff ranks #207 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 Lake Bluff 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 Lake Bluff near the bottom of Illinois's cities
Among the 1,336 Illinois cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Lake Bluff ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Lake Bluff only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#18 of 1,311
99th percentile in Illinois
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,336
0th percentile in Illinois
Median Home Value
#16 of 1,315
99th percentile in Illinois
Poverty Rate
#1,128 of 1,335
15th percentile in Illinois
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#8 of 1,336
99th 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
98th percentile nationally for median household income · 69th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Lake Bluff's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Lake Bluff'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 Lake Bluff's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$739,4006th percentilemore affordable than 6% 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
Lake Bluff'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
#9,339 of 15,516
More affordable than 40% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#7,493 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 3.6×, Lake Bluff sits in the moderate band:
national rank #9,339 of 15,516 and #7,493 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
$205,735Lake Bluff, IL median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Lake Bluff, 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 Lake Bluff, IL.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)81.8%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)1.9%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)60.8%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
5,834
Median Income
$205,735
Median Home Value
$739,400
Median Age
44.9
Poverty Rate
1.9%
Labor force participation
60.8%
Bachelor's Degree+
81.8%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
871.3
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
36.3
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
835.0
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
2
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Lake Bluff's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
5,609 residents
2021
5,589 residents
2022
5,567 residents
2023
5,566 residents
2024
5,572 residents
2025
5,563 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📉 Construction Slowdown
Total Permits (2024)
2
housing units authorized
Single-Family
2
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
0.3
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
4
4
0
$3.1M
2020
1
1
0
$0.7M
2021
3
3
0
$2.3M
2022
5
5
0
$6.2M
2023
3
3
0
$5.0M
2024
2
2
0
$2.8M
Permit volume decreased 50% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
51.9%
Carpool
7.0%
Public Transit
6.2%
Walk
1.8%
Work from Home
31.3%
Other
1.8%
Based on 2,688 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 Lake Bluff. 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 Lake Bluff 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 Lake Bluff sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Lake Bluff 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, 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.