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Place dossier plate
SheetIL-MCLEANSBORO-IL · McLeansboro, IL 2,750 pop · income 15th pct · 3 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 McLeansboro
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest McLeansboro on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Monterey · lowest
42,402
Monterey · lowest
42,402 median HH income
53.5% of the leader · rank #1
Taos · near
46,579
Taos · near
46,579 median HH income
58.8% of the leader · rank #2
McLeansboro · this city
46,589
McLeansboro · this city
46,589 median HH income
58.8% of the leader · rank #3
Dillsboro · near
46,591
Dillsboro · near
46,591 median HH income
58.8% of the leader · rank #4
McAllister · near
46,594
McAllister · near
46,594 median HH income
58.8% of the leader · rank #5
Smelterville · near
46,597
Smelterville · near
46,597 median HH income
58.8% of the leader · rank #6
New Richmond · highest
79,195
New Richmond · highest
79,195 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 McLeansboro 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: 2,750.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
McLeansboro - the verdict
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, McLeansboro places in the 15th percentile for household income and the 96th percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
15th
percentile, household income
2nd
percentile, home value
18th
percentile, median rent
96th
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: McLeansboro, IL
Illinois's McLeansboro is a small town, with 2,750 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Households in McLeansboro report a median income of $46,589 per year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 20.9%. McLeansboro's housing stock carries a median value of $72,200, and the median resident age is 41.0 years. 18.1% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 57.2% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
McLeansboro reports a comparatively low crime rate: per-100,000 total crime stands at 192.4 in FBI UCR data, below the national average (a voluntary reporting program, read this as reporting activity, not a definitive danger score). The annual average temperature per NOAA climate normals runs 55.4°F with 47.1 inches of precipitation per year and 13.3 inches of snowfall.
Illinois tracks close to the national cost-of-living baseline: the state registers 100.0 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Near Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $1,063 per month. 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 McLeansboro'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 within-city variation to population change to work and mobility to climate and hazard context to reported crime to housing and income to comparison shortlist; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For McLeansboro, city-specific coverage includes within-city Census tract profiles, FBI reported-crime rates, annual population history, commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for matched public-school count, local building permits; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
What can 3 Census tracts reveal inside McLeansboro?
PlainCities matches 3 Census tracts to this city.
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.
Is McLeansboro growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -49 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -1.9% 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.
What does the journey to work look like in McLeansboro?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 89.1%. 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for McLeansboro?
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 Hamilton (2,738 residents, $53,487 income); Bushnell (2,763 residents, $55,368 income); Lena (2,778 residents, $76,076 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are New Richmond, OH (2,750 residents); Forsyth, MO (2,749 residents); Middlefield, OH (2,749 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.
Climate and hazard context
What physical conditions frame life in McLeansboro?
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.
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 55.4°F, with 47.1 inches of precipitation and 13.3 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.
FEMA risk index (state avg)
54.5
Annual precipitation
47.1 in
Mean temperature
55.4°F
NOAA Climate Normals and FEMA National Risk Index (state-averaged on PlainCities). Hazard context is not address-level.
What can the FBI record say about safety in McLeansboro?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 192.4 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 92% 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
192.4
Violent rate
77.0
Property rate
115.4
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
How far does income reach against housing in McLeansboro?
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 1.5 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 20.9%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Value / income
1.5×
Home value
$72,200
Household income
$46,589
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Above-average cost · BEA RPP 2024, Illinois average
F
City profile score · McLeansboro, IL
34/100
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.
Violent crime B+
77 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger 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.
Bachelor's+ share F
18.1%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income F
$46,589
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate F
20.9%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
McLeansboro profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Violent crime: 77/100 (B+) · 77 /100k
Cost of living: 40/100 (D) · 100.0 index
Bachelor's+ share: 29/100 (F) · 18.1%
Household income: 16/100 (F) · $46,589
Poverty rate: 12/100 (F) · 20.9%
Where McLeansboro sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
McLeansboro'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 - McLeansboro highlighted among 8 peers.Read the chart values
McLeansboro, IL (this city): home $72,200, crime 192/100k
New Richmond, OH : home $221,100, crime 216/100k
Forsyth, MO : home $185,900, crime 1,679/100k
Monterey, TN : home $130,600, crime 1,676/100k
Van, TX : home $167,900, crime 1,059/100k
Hamilton, IL : home $105,600, crime 299/100k
Oakbrook Terrace, IL : home $315,600, crime 2,882/100k
Pawnee, IL : home $151,100, crime 111/100k
How does McLeansboro compare to other US cities?
Where McLeansboro sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income15% higher than other cities
Home value2% pricier than other cities
Median rent18% pricier than other cities
Safety96% 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: McLeansboro ranks #39 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 McLeansboro 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 McLeansboro near the bottom of Illinois's cities
Among the 1,336 Illinois cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, McLeansboro ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares McLeansboro only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#1,164 of 1,311
11th percentile in Illinois
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,336
0th percentile in Illinois
Median Home Value
#1,154 of 1,315
12th percentile in Illinois
Poverty Rate
#98 of 1,335
92nd percentile in Illinois
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#666 of 1,336
50th 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
15th percentile nationally for median household income · 96th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
McLeansboro's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
McLeansboro'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 McLeansboro's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$72,200Among 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
McLeansboro's home-value-to-income ratio: 1.5×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#474 of 15,516
More affordable than 97% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#464 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 1.5×, McLeansboro sits in the affordable band:
national rank #474 of 15,516 and #464 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
$46,589McLeansboro, IL median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context McLeansboro, 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 McLeansboro, IL.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)18.1%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)20.9%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)57.2%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
2,750
Median Income
$46,589
Median Home Value
$72,200
Median Age
41.0
Poverty Rate
20.9%
Labor force participation
57.2%
Bachelor's Degree+
18.1%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
192.4
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
77.0
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
115.4
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
55.4°F
Annual Precipitation
47.1"
Annual Snowfall
13.3"
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
McLeansboro's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
2,634 residents
2021
2,606 residents
2022
2,628 residents
2023
2,598 residents
2024
2,586 residents
2025
2,585 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
89.1%
Carpool
2.7%
Public Transit
0.9%
Walk
6.5%
Work from Home
0.7%
Based on 1,214 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 McLeansboro. 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 McLeansboro 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 McLeansboro sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How McLeansboro 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, 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.