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Place dossier plate
SheetIL-PALOS-HEIGHTS-IL · Palos Heights, IL 11,817 pop · income 82nd 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 Palos Heights
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Palos Heights on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Centralia · lowest
47,308
Centralia · lowest
47,308 median HH income
31.8% of the leader · rank #1
Frenchtown · near
107,969
Frenchtown · near
107,969 median HH income
72.6% of the leader · rank #2
Palos Heights · this city
107,974
Palos Heights · this city
107,974 median HH income
72.6% of the leader · rank #3
Summit · near
107,977
Summit · near
107,977 median HH income
72.6% of the leader · rank #4
Flower Hill · near
107,987
Flower Hill · near
107,987 median HH income
72.6% of the leader · rank #5
Thorndale · near
107,995
Thorndale · near
107,995 median HH income
72.6% of the leader · rank #6
River Forest · highest
148,711
River Forest · highest
148,711 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 Palos Heights 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: 11,817.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Palos Heights - the verdict
Nationally, Palos Heights sits in the 82nd percentile for household income and the 67th percentile for safety among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
82nd
percentile, household income
72nd
percentile, home value
18th
percentile, median rent
67th
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: Palos Heights, IL
Illinois's Palos Heights is a small town, with 11,817 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Households in Palos Heights report a median income of $107,974 per year, placing it in the top quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 3.0%. Palos Heights's housing stock carries a median value of $350,000, and the median resident age is 51.2 years. 43.0% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 51.9% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 6 residential units authorized here in 2024 (Low Activity). Palos Heights reports a comparatively low crime rate: the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program logs 924.9 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. 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. 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 Palos Heights'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 reported crime to work and mobility to schools and households 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 Palos Heights, city-specific coverage includes matched public-school count, local building permits, commute-mode shares, FBI reported-crime rates, annual population history.
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. Population change
Is Palos Heights 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 -337 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -2.7% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 6 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Palos Heights?
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 924.9 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 59% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
What does the journey to work look like in Palos Heights?
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 75.1%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Which cities make useful reference points for Palos Heights?
Within Illinois, the closest population matches are Plano (11,626 residents, $83,102 income); Centralia (12,009 residents, $47,308 income); River Forest (11,489 residents, $148,711 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Endwell, NY (11,821 residents); Westview, FL (11,823 residents); South Lyon, MI (11,825 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.
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.
Schools and households
What does the education layer cover for Palos Heights?
The NCES join finds 6 public schools within the city match. 43.0% 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 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.
Matched public schools
6
Bachelor's degree+
43.0%
Poverty estimate
3.0%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
How far does income reach against housing in Palos Heights?
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.2 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
$107,974
Home value
$350,000
Value / income
3.2×
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 · Palos Heights, IL
72/100
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 A-
62 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Household income A-
$107,974
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.
Bachelor's+ share B+
43.0%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; 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.
Palos Heights profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Violent crime: 81/100 (A-) · 62 /100k
Household income: 80/100 (A-) · $107,974
Poverty rate: 79/100 (B+) · 3.0%
Bachelor's+ share: 78/100 (B+) · 43.0%
Cost of living: 40/100 (D) · 100.0 index
Where Palos Heights sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Palos Heights'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 - Palos Heights highlighted among 27 peers.Read the chart values
Palos Heights, IL (this city): home $350,000, crime 925/100k
South Lyon, MI : home $280,900, crime 350/100k
Wallington, NJ : home $493,700, crime 1,598/100k
Plano, IL : home $221,100, crime 641/100k
Centralia, IL : home $81,600, crime 3,243/100k
River Forest, IL : home $676,900, crime 2,563/100k
Pontiac, IL : home $110,200, crime 1,597/100k
New York, NY : home $751,700, crime 3,039/100k
Los Angeles, CA : home $879,500, crime 2,212/100k
Chicago, IL : home $315,200, crime 4,012/100k
Houston, TX : home $253,400, crime 5,442/100k
Phoenix, AZ : home $381,900, crime 3,125/100k
Philadelphia, PA : home $232,400, crime 5,457/100k
San Antonio, TX : home $219,700, crime 5,218/100k
San Diego, CA : home $848,500, crime 2,082/100k
Dallas, TX : home $295,300, crime 4,010/100k
San Jose, CA : home $1,187,800, crime 3,195/100k
Austin, TX : home $512,700, crime 3,709/100k
Fort Worth, TX : home $277,300, crime 3,158/100k
Columbus, OH : home $234,500, crime 3,088/100k
Indianapolis, IN : home $207,000, crime 4,214/100k
San Francisco, CA : home $1,380,500, crime 4,526/100k
Seattle, WA : home $912,100, crime 5,783/100k
Denver, CO : home $586,700, crime 5,755/100k
Oklahoma City, OK : home $215,100, crime 3,570/100k
El Paso, TX : home $171,700, crime 1,772/100k
Washington, DC : home $724,600, crime 4,514/100k
How does Palos Heights compare to other US cities?
Palos Heights measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income82% higher than other cities
Home value72% pricier than other cities
Median rent18% pricier than other cities
Safety67% 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: Palos Heights ranks #224 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 Palos Heights 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 Palos Heights near the bottom of Illinois's cities
Among the 1,336 Illinois cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Palos Heights ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Palos Heights only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#164 of 1,311
87th percentile in Illinois
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,336
0th percentile in Illinois
Median Home Value
#98 of 1,315
92nd percentile in Illinois
Poverty Rate
#1,022 of 1,335
23rd percentile in Illinois
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#159 of 1,336
88th 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
82nd percentile nationally for median household income · 67th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Palos Heights's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Palos Heights'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 Palos Heights's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$350,00028th percentilemore affordable than 28% 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
Palos Heights's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.2×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#7,880 of 15,516
More affordable than 49% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#1,224 of 3,317
Small cities (10,000–49,999)
At 3.2×, Palos Heights sits in the moderate band:
national rank #7,880 of 15,516 and #1,224 of 3,317small cities (10,000–49,999).
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
$107,974Palos Heights, IL median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Palos Heights, 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 Palos Heights, IL.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)43.0%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)3.0%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)51.9%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
11,817
Median Income
$107,974
Median Home Value
$350,000
Median Age
51.2
Poverty Rate
3.0%
Labor force participation
51.9%
Bachelor's Degree+
43.0%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
924.9
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
61.7
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
863.2
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
6
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Palos Heights's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
12,421 residents
2021
12,209 residents
2022
12,043 residents
2023
12,018 residents
2024
12,092 residents
2025
12,084 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
🏗️ Low Activity
Total Permits (2024)
6
housing units authorized
Single-Family
6
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
0.5
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
0
0
0
-
2020
0
0
0
-
2021
1
1
0
$0.3M
2022
0
0
0
-
2023
1
1
0
$0.3M
2024
6
6
0
$2.5M
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
75.1%
Carpool
6.7%
Public Transit
3.5%
Walk
1.9%
Work from Home
12.6%
Based on 5,025 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 Palos Heights. 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 Palos Heights 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 Palos Heights sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Palos Heights 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.