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Place dossier plate
SheetIL-PEARL-IL · Pearl, IL 101 pop · income 26th 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 Pearl
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Pearl on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Providence · lowest
48,750
Providence · lowest
48,750 median HH income
57.1% of the leader · rank #1
Pearl · this city
54,167
Pearl · this city
54,167 median HH income
63.4% of the leader · rank #2
New Stuyahok · near
54,167
New Stuyahok · near
54,167 median HH income
63.4% of the leader · rank #3
Tanana · near
54,167
Tanana · near
54,167 median HH income
63.4% of the leader · rank #4
Raisin · near
54,167
Raisin · near
54,167 median HH income
63.4% of the leader · rank #5
Fanning Sprin… · near
54,167
Fanning Sprin… · near
54,167 median HH income
63.4% of the leader · rank #6
Maples · highest
85,417
Maples · highest
85,417 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 Pearl 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: 101.
Pearl ranks in the 26th percentile for household income nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS.
26th
percentile, household income
1st
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: Pearl, IL
Illinois's Pearl is a small town, with 101 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Households in Pearl report a median income of $54,167 per year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 5.6%. Typical homes in Pearl are valued around $54,200, and the median resident age is 56.7 years. About 1.3% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 35.3% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
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. 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 Pearl'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 comparison shortlist to work and mobility to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Pearl, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, annual population history.
No matched row is reported here for local building permits, within-city Census tract profiles, FBI reported-crime rates, matched public-school count; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Population change
Is Pearl 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 -2 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -1.8% 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Pearl?
Within Illinois, the closest population matches are Exeter (101 residents, $57,143 income); Browning (100 residents, $61,250 income); El Dara (100 residents, $56,667 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Providence, AL (101 residents); Santa Cruz, AZ (101 residents); New Pine Creek, CA (101 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.
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 63.3%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
How far does income reach against housing in Pearl?
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 1.0 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 5.6%, 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.
Below median income · poverty 5.6% (Below-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
100.0 (US=100)
Above-average cost · BEA RPP 2024, Illinois average
F
City profile score · Pearl, IL
34/100
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+
5.6%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better 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.
Household income F
$54,167
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
1.3%
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).
Pearl profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Poverty rate: 62/100 (C+) · 5.6%
Cost of living: 40/100 (D) · 100.0 index
Household income: 26/100 (F) · $54,167
Bachelor's+ share: 0/100 (F) · 1.3%
How does Pearl compare to other US cities?
Where Pearl sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income26% higher than other cities
Home value1% 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 Pearl 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 Pearl near the bottom of Illinois's cities
Among the 1,336 Illinois cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Pearl ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Pearl only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#994 of 1,311
24th percentile in Illinois
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,336
0th percentile in Illinois
Median Home Value
#1,263 of 1,315
4th percentile in Illinois
Poverty Rate
#791 of 1,335
40th percentile in Illinois
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#1,322 of 1,336
1st 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
26th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Pearl's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$54,200Among the most affordablemore affordable than 99% 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
Pearl's home-value-to-income ratio: 1.0×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#41 of 15,516
More affordable than 100% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#41 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 1.0×, Pearl sits in the affordable band:
national rank #41 of 15,516 and #41 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
$54,167Pearl, IL median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Pearl, 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 Pearl, IL.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)1.3%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)5.6%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)35.3%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
101
Median Income
$54,167
Median Home Value
$54,200
Median Age
56.7
Poverty Rate
5.6%
Labor force participation
35.3%
Bachelor's Degree+
1.3%
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Pearl's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
110 residents
2021
110 residents
2022
109 residents
2023
109 residents
2024
109 residents
2025
108 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
63.3%
Carpool
3.3%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
33.3%
Based on 30 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 Pearl. 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 Pearl 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 Pearl sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Pearl 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.