Side-by-side metrics and state or size-class ranks use the same Census and FBI fields shown on this profile. Results stay in the URL so you can bookmark or share them.
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.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Serena 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: 195.
195 people call Serena, Illinois home. Source: Census ACS.
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: Serena, IL
195 people live in Serena, Illinois - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. The median resident age is 15.4 years. Educational attainment runs 10.9% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 68.5% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The city is served by 2 public schools according to NCES Common Core of Data.
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). 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. 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 Serena'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 work and mobility to comparison shortlist to schools and households; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Serena, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, matched public-school count.
No matched row is reported here for FBI reported-crime rates, annual population history, local building permits, within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in Serena?
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. The profile is strongly car-oriented, so a relocation comparison should put trip distance, vehicle access, and household fuel costs ahead of a citywide commute average. The same-state peer links offer a more relevant benchmark than a national label.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 100.0%. 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 Serena?
Within Illinois, the closest population matches are Penfield (195 residents, $94,531 income); Kingston Mines (194 residents, $50,000 income); Vermilion (194 residents, $46,250 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are McGrath, AK (195 residents); Homewood Canyon, CA (195 residents); Hillsdale, IN (195 residents). 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 NCES join finds 2 public schools within the city match. 10.9% 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.
Above-average cost · BEA RPP 2024, Illinois average
F
City profile score · Serena, IL
17/100
3 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.
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
10.9%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate F
50.0%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income N/A
N/A
No ACS median household income on file for this place.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Serena profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 40/100 (D) · 100.0 index
Bachelor's+ share: 9/100 (F) · 10.9%
Poverty rate: 0/100 (F) · 50.0%
How does Serena compare to other US cities?
Where Serena sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
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 Serena 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 Serena near the bottom of Illinois's cities
Among the 1,336 Illinois cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Serena ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Serena only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,336
0th percentile in Illinois
Poverty Rate
#5 of 1,335
100th percentile in Illinois
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#1,042 of 1,336
22nd 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.
Income distribution context
Median household income is not available for Serena in the current Census ACS release (common for very small places).
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)10.9%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)50.0%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)68.5%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
195
Median Income
N/A
Median Home Value
N/A
Median Age
15.4
Poverty Rate
50.0%
Labor force participation
68.5%
Bachelor's Degree+
10.9%
Schools
Total Schools
2
Public schools in this city
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
100.0%
Carpool
0.0%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
0.0%
Based on 61 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 Serena. 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 Serena 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 Serena sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Serena 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 ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.