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Place dossier plate
SheetIL-PRINCETON-IL · Princeton, IL 7,829 pop · income 32nd pct · 10 tracts
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 Princeton
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Princeton on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Quincy · lowest
34,126
Quincy · lowest
34,126 median HH income
13.8% of the leader · rank #1
Shipshewana · near
57,679
Shipshewana · near
57,679 median HH income
23.3% of the leader · rank #2
Boothbay Harb… · near
57,679
Boothbay Harb… · near
57,679 median HH income
23.3% of the leader · rank #3
Cumby · near
57,679
Cumby · near
57,679 median HH income
23.3% of the leader · rank #4
Princeton · this city
57,682
Princeton · this city
57,682 median HH income
23.3% of the leader · rank #5
Martin · near
57,684
Martin · near
57,684 median HH income
23.3% of the leader · rank #6
Glen Ridge · highest
248,016
Glen Ridge · highest
248,016 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 Princeton 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: 7,829.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Princeton - the verdict
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Princeton lands in the 32nd percentile for household income and the 40th percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
32nd
percentile, household income
21st
percentile, home value
18th
percentile, median rent
40th
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: Princeton, IL
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 7,829 residents in Princeton, a small town within Illinois. Households in Princeton report a median income of $57,682 per year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 9.9%. Princeton's housing stock carries a median value of $131,300, and the median resident age is 45.4 years. Educational attainment runs 25.3% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 54.8% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 5 residential units authorized here in 2024 (Slowing), down 17% from five years earlier. Princeton reports a comparatively low crime rate: per-100,000 total crime stands at 1683.9 in FBI UCR data, below the national average (a voluntary reporting program, read this as reporting activity, not a definitive danger score). NOAA puts Princeton's yearly average temperature at 49.7°F with 39.8 inches of precipitation per year and 28.5 inches of snowfall.
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. 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 Princeton'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 within-city variation to population change to climate and hazard context to comparison shortlist to work and mobility to reported crime to schools and households to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Princeton, city-specific coverage includes matched public-school count, annual population history, commute-mode shares, local building permits, FBI reported-crime rates, within-city Census tract profiles.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
1. Within-city variation
What can 10 Census tracts reveal inside Princeton?
That layer breaks the citywide income, rent, and home-value medians into smaller Census geographies, which can reveal differences that one municipal median necessarily hides. A tract is a statistical area, not a locally defined neighborhood or a promise about conditions on a particular block. Start with the city profile for the broad comparison, then use the tract layer to test whether the same housing and income pattern is consistent across the city. Large within-city spreads are a reason to avoid treating any citywide median as a universal resident experience.
PlainCities matches 10 Census tracts to this city.
Is Princeton 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 -171 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -2.2% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 5 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 49.7°F, with 39.8 inches of precipitation and 28.5 inches of annual snowfall. FEMA's state-averaged National Risk Index score for Illinois is 54.5 out of 100. Climate normals describe long-run weather; the FEMA score on PlainCities is a state average of county NRI inputs and combines hazards, exposure, vulnerability, and resilience.
The two sources should not be blended into one comfort or safety score. Use the climate values for baseline conditions and the risk index as a prompt to inspect specific hazards, insurance, and local emergency guidance for a particular address.
Which cities make useful reference points for Princeton?
Within Illinois, the closest population matches are Round Lake Park (7,833 residents, $57,486 income); West Dundee (7,867 residents, $104,750 income); Broadview (7,898 residents, $60,139 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Westlake, CA (7,829 residents); Glen Ridge, NJ (7,827 residents); Yreka, CA (7,832 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.
Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in Princeton?
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 69.7%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Public transit
0.8%
Work from home
6.5%
Drive alone
69.7%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 3,450 workers age 16+.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Princeton?
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 1683.9 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 26% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Property rate
1683.9
Violent rate
0.0
Total reported rate
1683.9
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
What does the education layer cover for Princeton?
The NCES join finds 5 public schools within the city match. 25.3% 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
5
Bachelor's degree+
25.3%
Poverty estimate
9.9%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
How far does income reach against housing in Princeton?
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 2.3 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 9.9%, 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.
Household income
$57,682
Home value
$131,300
Value / income
2.3×
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Below median income · poverty 9.9% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
100.0 (US=100)
Above-average cost · BEA RPP 2024, Illinois average
C-
City profile score · Princeton, IL
51/100
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+
0 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share C-
25.3%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate D
9.9%
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
$57,682
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Princeton profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Violent crime: 97/100 (A+) · 0 /100k
Bachelor's+ share: 50/100 (C-) · 25.3%
Poverty rate: 40/100 (D) · 9.9%
Cost of living: 40/100 (D) · 100.0 index
Household income: 31/100 (F) · $57,682
Where Princeton sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Princeton'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 - Princeton highlighted among 9 peers.Read the chart values
Princeton, IL (this city): home $131,300, crime 1,684/100k
Glen Ridge, NJ : home $730,600, crime 1,220/100k
Yreka, CA : home $245,100, crime 3,149/100k
Ponchatoula, LA : home $194,300, crime 2,428/100k
Round Lake Park, IL : home $157,900, crime 181/100k
West Dundee, IL : home $342,900, crime 1,117/100k
South Beloit, IL : home $160,800, crime 1,182/100k
Lincolnshire, IL : home $625,800, crime 962/100k
Silvis, IL : home $161,300, crime 3,865/100k
How does Princeton compare to other US cities?
Here's how Princeton stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income32% higher than other cities
Home value21% pricier than other cities
Median rent18% pricier than other cities
Safety40% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
National percentiles can mask local variation. Looking only at Illinois, Princeton ranks #330 of 455 Illinois cities by lowest crime rate - a narrower, more locally useful cut than the national comparison above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Princeton 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 Princeton near the bottom of Illinois's cities
Among the 1,336 Illinois cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Princeton ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Princeton only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#897 of 1,311
32nd percentile in Illinois
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,336
0th percentile in Illinois
Median Home Value
#583 of 1,315
56th percentile in Illinois
Poverty Rate
#467 of 1,335
65th percentile in Illinois
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#400 of 1,336
70th 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
32nd percentile nationally for median household income · 40th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Princeton's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Princeton'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 Princeton's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$131,300Among the most affordablemore affordable than 79% 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
Princeton's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.3×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#2,834 of 15,516
More affordable than 82% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#2,624 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.3×, Princeton sits in the affordable band:
national rank #2,834 of 15,516 and #2,624 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
$57,682Princeton, IL median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Princeton, 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 Princeton, IL.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)25.3%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)9.9%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)54.8%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
7,829
Median Income
$57,682
Median Home Value
$131,300
Median Age
45.4
Poverty Rate
9.9%
Labor force participation
54.8%
Bachelor's Degree+
25.3%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
1683.9
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
0.0
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
1683.9
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.
Climate
Avg Temperature
49.7°F
Annual Precipitation
39.8"
Annual Snowfall
28.5"
Schools
Total Schools
5
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Princeton's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
7,845 residents
2021
7,761 residents
2022
7,742 residents
2023
7,722 residents
2024
7,673 residents
2025
7,674 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
🏗️ Slowing
Total Permits (2024)
5
housing units authorized
Single-Family
0
detached homes
Multifamily
5
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
0.6
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
6
6
0
$1.2M
2020
7
7
0
$1.5M
2021
8
8
0
$1.7M
2022
6
6
0
$1.2M
2023
6
6
0
$1.2M
2024
5
0
5
$0.7M
Permit volume decreased 17% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
69.7%
Carpool
14.3%
Public Transit
0.8%
Walk
4.3%
Work from Home
6.5%
Other
4.4%
Based on 3,450 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 Princeton. 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 Princeton 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 Princeton sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Princeton 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, NOAA Climate Normals, 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.