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Place dossier plate
SheetIL-MILTON-IL · Milton, IL 188 pop · income 17th 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 Milton
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Milton on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Colp · lowest
31,250
Colp · lowest
31,250 median HH income
36.8% of the leader · rank #1
Geneva · near
48,357
Geneva · near
48,357 median HH income
56.9% of the leader · rank #2
Milton · this city
48,365
Milton · this city
48,365 median HH income
56.9% of the leader · rank #3
Walterboro · near
48,366
Walterboro · near
48,366 median HH income
56.9% of the leader · rank #4
Shepherd · near
48,368
Shepherd · near
48,368 median HH income
56.9% of the leader · rank #5
Windsor · near
48,371
Windsor · near
48,371 median HH income
56.9% of the leader · rank #6
Dell · highest
85,000
Dell · highest
85,000 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 Milton 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: 188.
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Milton places in the 17th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
17th
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: Milton, IL
Illinois's Milton is a small town, with 188 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Milton households earn a median of $48,365 annually, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 17.2%. Home values in Milton run a median of $73,600, and the median resident age is 35.5 years. 6.0% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 42.9% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
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). A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $1,063 per month statewide. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Illinois run around $240, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. The average commute for Milton workers runs 24.8 minutes, with 98.3% driving alone and 1.7% 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 Milton'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 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 Milton, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, annual population history.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles, local building permits, matched public-school count, FBI reported-crime rates; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
Is Milton growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -3 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -1.4% 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 Milton?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 98.3%. The reported mean trip to work is 24.8 minutes.
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 Milton?
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 Bone Gap (187 residents, $44,167 income); Coleta (189 residents, $44,286 income); Colp (187 residents, $31,250 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Kellyton, AL (188 residents); Dell, AR (188 residents); Greenhorn, CA (188 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.
How far does income reach against housing in Milton?
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 17.2%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Above-average cost · BEA RPP 2024, Illinois average
F
City profile score · Milton, 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
17.2%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$48,365
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
6.0%
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).
Milton profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 40/100 (D) · 100.0 index
Poverty rate: 19/100 (F) · 17.2%
Household income: 18/100 (F) · $48,365
Bachelor's+ share: 0/100 (F) · 6.0%
How does Milton compare to other US cities?
Where Milton sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income17% 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 Milton 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 Milton near the bottom of Illinois's cities
Among the 1,336 Illinois cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Milton ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Milton only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#1,130 of 1,311
14th percentile in Illinois
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,336
0th percentile in Illinois
Median Home Value
#1,137 of 1,315
13th percentile in Illinois
Poverty Rate
#178 of 1,335
87th percentile in Illinois
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#1,226 of 1,336
8th 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
17th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Milton's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$73,600Among 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
Milton's home-value-to-income ratio: 1.5×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#425 of 15,516
More affordable than 97% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#418 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 1.5×, Milton sits in the affordable band:
national rank #425 of 15,516 and #418 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
$48,365Milton, IL median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Milton, 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 Milton, IL.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)6.0%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)17.2%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)42.9%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
188
Median Income
$48,365
Median Home Value
$73,600
Median Age
35.5
Poverty Rate
17.2%
Labor force participation
42.9%
Bachelor's Degree+
6.0%
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Milton's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
209 residents
2021
209 residents
2022
209 residents
2023
206 residents
2024
207 residents
2025
206 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
24.8 minutes
Drive Alone
98.3%
Carpool
0.0%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
1.7%
Based on 60 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 Milton. 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 Milton 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 Milton sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Milton 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, 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.