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Place dossier plate
SheetIL-NAPERVILLE-IL · Naperville, IL 149,424 pop · income 94th 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 Naperville
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Naperville on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Jackson · lowest
43,238
Jackson · lowest
43,238 median HH income
28.6% of the leader · rank #1
Redwood City · near
150,840
Redwood City · near
150,840 median HH income
99.8% of the leader · rank #2
Montebello · near
150,882
Montebello · near
150,882 median HH income
99.9% of the leader · rank #3
Naperville · this city
150,937
Naperville · this city
150,937 median HH income
99.9% of the leader · rank #4
Glenview Hills · near
150,938
Glenview Hills · near
150,938 median HH income
99.9% of the leader · rank #5
Upper Arlingt… · near
150,993
Upper Arlingt… · near
150,993 median HH income
99.9% of the leader · rank #6
South Hunting… · highest
151,078
South Hunting… · highest
151,078 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 Naperville 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: 149,424.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Naperville - the verdict
Nationally, Naperville sits in the 94th percentile for household income and the 65th percentile for safety among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
94th
percentile, household income
85th
percentile, home value
18th
percentile, median rent
65th
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: Naperville, IL
Naperville is a mid-sized U.S. city in Illinois, home to 149,424 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Median household income here is $150,937 per year, placing it in the top quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 3.0%. Naperville's housing stock carries a median value of $509,900, and the median resident age is 40.1 years. Educational attainment runs 71.7% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 65.4% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 369 residential building permits were authorized in Naperville (Growing), up 18% from five years earlier, per Census BPS data. Naperville reports a comparatively low crime rate: FBI UCR reporting places total crime at 967.3 incidents per 100,000 residents, below the national average (voluntary agency reporting, reflects 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. Monthly utility costs average around $240 across Illinois, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. Workers in Naperville report an average commute of 22.8 minutes, with 58.9% driving alone and 27.3% working from home. 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 Naperville'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 reported crime to work and mobility to comparison shortlist to schools and households to population change to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Naperville, city-specific coverage includes FBI reported-crime rates, commute-mode shares, annual population history, matched public-school count, local building permits.
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.
1. Reported crime
What can the FBI record say about safety in Naperville?
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 967.3 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 58% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
What does the journey to work look like in Naperville?
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.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 58.9%. The reported mean trip to work is 22.8 minutes.
Which cities make useful reference points for Naperville?
Within Illinois, the closest population matches are Joliet (149,785 residents, $88,026 income); Rockford (147,649 residents, $53,328 income); Aurora (179,867 residents, $90,109 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Pasadena, TX (149,345 residents); Surprise, AZ (149,519 residents); Jackson, MS (149,827 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 Naperville?
The NCES join finds 41 public schools within the city match. 71.7% 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.
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.
Population change
Is Naperville growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Recent estimates point upward. Growth can increase housing demand and service needs, but the permit record must move in the same direction before calling it a supply response; the two series measure different things.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +3,730 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +2.5% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 369 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
+2.5%
2025 estimate
153,114
2020 estimate
149,384
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
How far does income reach against housing in Naperville?
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.4 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 3.0%, 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. 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.
Household income
$150,937
Home value
$509,900
Value / income
3.4×
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Above-average cost · BEA RPP 2024, Illinois average
B+
City profile score · Naperville, IL
78/100
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.
Bachelor's+ share A+
71.7%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income A+
$150,937
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate B+
3.0%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime B+
84 /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.
Naperville profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Bachelor's+ share: 98/100 (A+) · 71.7%
Household income: 96/100 (A+) · $150,937
Poverty rate: 79/100 (B+) · 3.0%
Violent crime: 75/100 (B+) · 84 /100k
Cost of living: 40/100 (D) · 100.0 index
Where Naperville sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Naperville'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 - Naperville highlighted among 12 peers.Read the chart values
Naperville, IL (this city): home $509,900, crime 967/100k
Pasadena, TX : home $193,600, crime 2,918/100k
Surprise, AZ : home $396,000, crime 985/100k
Escondido, CA : home $663,500, crime 1,919/100k
Mesquite, TX : home $226,500, crime 3,478/100k
Pomona, CA : home $569,600, crime 3,469/100k
Joliet, IL : home $248,600, crime 1,595/100k
Rockford, IL : home $120,900, crime 3,597/100k
Aurora, IL : home $260,400, crime 1,518/100k
Elgin, IL : home $252,400, crime 1,369/100k
Springfield, IL : home $155,200, crime 5,813/100k
Peoria, IL : home $149,500, crime 5,629/100k
How does Naperville compare to other US cities?
Where Naperville sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income94% higher than other cities
Home value85% pricier than other cities
Median rent18% pricier than other cities
Safety65% 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: Naperville ranks #236 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 Naperville 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 Naperville near the bottom of Illinois's cities
Among the 1,336 Illinois cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Naperville ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Naperville only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#46 of 1,311
96th percentile in Illinois
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,336
0th percentile in Illinois
Median Home Value
#42 of 1,315
97th percentile in Illinois
Poverty Rate
#1,022 of 1,335
23rd percentile in Illinois
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#30 of 1,336
98th 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
94th percentile nationally for median household income · 65th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Naperville's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Naperville'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 Naperville's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$509,90015th percentilemore affordable than 15% 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
Naperville's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.4×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#8,480 of 15,516
More affordable than 45% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#185 of 750
Mid-size cities (50,000–199,999)
At 3.4×, Naperville sits in the moderate band:
national rank #8,480 of 15,516 and #185 of 750mid-size cities (50,000–199,999).
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
$150,937Naperville, IL median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Naperville, 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 Naperville, IL.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)71.7%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)3.0%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)65.4%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
149,424
Median Income
$150,937
Median Home Value
$509,900
Median Age
40.1
Poverty Rate
3.0%
Labor force participation
65.4%
Bachelor's Degree+
71.7%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
967.3
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
83.7
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
883.6
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.
Schools
Total Schools
41
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Naperville's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
149,384 residents
2021
149,510 residents
2022
150,086 residents
2023
150,769 residents
2024
152,548 residents
2025
153,114 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
🏗️ Growing
Total Permits (2024)
369
housing units authorized
Single-Family
228
detached homes
Multifamily
141
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
2.5
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
314
246
68
$98.0M
2020
431
319
112
$115.1M
2021
735
276
459
$216.6M
2022
247
247
0
$108.5M
2023
463
169
294
$135.9M
2024
369
228
141
$116.5M
Permit volume increased 18% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
22.8 minutes
Drive Alone
58.9%
Carpool
4.8%
Public Transit
6.2%
Walk
1.4%
Work from Home
27.3%
Other
1.4%
Based on 75,621 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 Naperville. 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 Naperville 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 Naperville sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Naperville 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.