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Place dossier plate
SheetIL-NIANTIC-IL · Niantic, IL 734 pop · income 41st 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 Niantic
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Niantic on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Walton · lowest
46,176
Walton · lowest
46,176 median HH income
43.4% of the leader · rank #1
Seven Oaks · near
64,003
Seven Oaks · near
64,003 median HH income
60.1% of the leader · rank #2
Clinton · near
64,005
Clinton · near
64,005 median HH income
60.1% of the leader · rank #3
Niantic · this city
64,009
Niantic · this city
64,009 median HH income
60.1% of the leader · rank #4
Mexico Beach · near
64,013
Mexico Beach · near
64,013 median HH income
60.2% of the leader · rank #5
Somerville · near
64,013
Somerville · near
64,013 median HH income
60.2% of the leader · rank #6
Lost Nation · highest
106,419
Lost Nation · highest
106,419 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 Niantic 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: 734.
Niantic ranks in the 41st percentile for household income nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS.
41st
percentile, household income
14th
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: Niantic, IL
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 734 residents in Niantic, a small town within Illinois. Niantic households earn a median of $64,009 annually, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 5.5%. Niantic's housing stock carries a median value of $111,700, and the median resident age is 31.7 years. About 10.0% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 63.0% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 0 residential units authorized here in 2024 (No Permits).
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. A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $1,063 per month statewide. Monthly utility costs average around $240 across Illinois, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 54.5 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Niantic'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 housing and income to comparison shortlist to work and mobility to schools and households to population change; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Niantic, city-specific coverage includes local building permits, annual population history, commute-mode shares, matched public-school count.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles, FBI reported-crime rates; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
How far does income reach against housing in Niantic?
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 1.7 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 5.5%, 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Niantic?
Within Illinois, the closest population matches are La Moille (732 residents, $65,542 income); Tonica (732 residents, $80,795 income); McLean (730 residents, $84,766 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Miracle Valley, AZ (734 residents); Lakeside CDP (Kern County), CA (734 residents); Waverly Hall, GA (734 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.
What does the journey to work look like in Niantic?
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 78.5%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
The NCES join finds 1 public school within the city match. 10.0% 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 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.
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 Niantic 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 -31 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -5.1% 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
-5.1%
2025 estimate
578
2020 estimate
609
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
Below median income · poverty 5.5% (Below-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
100.0 (US=100)
Above-average cost · BEA RPP 2024, Illinois average
F
City profile score · Niantic, IL
39/100
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.
Poverty rate C+
5.5%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income D
$64,009
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
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
10.0%
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).
Niantic profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Poverty rate: 62/100 (C+) · 5.5%
Household income: 40/100 (D) · $64,009
Cost of living: 40/100 (D) · 100.0 index
Bachelor's+ share: 6/100 (F) · 10.0%
How does Niantic compare to other US cities?
Here's how Niantic stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income41% higher than other cities
Home value14% 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 Niantic 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 Niantic near the bottom of Illinois's cities
Among the 1,336 Illinois cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Niantic ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Niantic only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#730 of 1,311
44th percentile in Illinois
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,336
0th percentile in Illinois
Median Home Value
#708 of 1,315
46th percentile in Illinois
Poverty Rate
#801 of 1,335
40th percentile in Illinois
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#1,085 of 1,336
18th 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
41st percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Niantic's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$111,700Among the most affordablemore affordable than 86% 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
Niantic's home-value-to-income ratio: 1.7×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#864 of 15,516
More affordable than 94% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#837 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 1.7×, Niantic sits in the affordable band:
national rank #864 of 15,516 and #837 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
$64,009Niantic, IL median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Niantic, 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 Niantic, IL.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)10.0%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)5.5%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)63.0%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
734
Median Income
$64,009
Median Home Value
$111,700
Median Age
31.7
Poverty Rate
5.5%
Labor force participation
63.0%
Bachelor's Degree+
10.0%
Schools
Total Schools
1
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Niantic's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
609 residents
2021
602 residents
2022
592 residents
2023
586 residents
2024
584 residents
2025
578 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
0
0
0
-
2022
0
0
0
-
2023
0
0
0
-
2024
0
0
0
-
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
78.5%
Carpool
16.8%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
4.3%
Based on 303 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 Niantic. 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 Niantic 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 Niantic sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Niantic 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, 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.