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Place dossier plate
SheetIL-ST-CHARLES-IL · St. Charles, IL 32,733 pop · income 85th 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 St. Charles
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest St. Charles on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Houma · lowest
54,637
Houma · lowest
54,637 median HH income
26.3% of the leader · rank #1
Clay · near
115,313
Clay · near
115,313 median HH income
55.5% of the leader · rank #2
Warsaw · near
115,313
Warsaw · near
115,313 median HH income
55.5% of the leader · rank #3
Woods Cross · near
115,335
Woods Cross · near
115,335 median HH income
55.5% of the leader · rank #4
St. Charles · this city
115,350
St. Charles · this city
115,350 median HH income
55.5% of the leader · rank #5
Cascade-Chipi… · near
115,357
Cascade-Chipi… · near
115,357 median HH income
55.5% of the leader · rank #6
Los Gatos · highest
207,891
Los Gatos · highest
207,891 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 St. Charles 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: 32,733.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
St. Charles - the verdict
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, St. Charles places in the 85th percentile for household income and the 58th percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
85th
percentile, household income
74th
percentile, home value
18th
percentile, median rent
58th
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: St. Charles, IL
Illinois's St. Charles is a small city, with 32,733 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Households in St. Charles report a median income of $115,350 per year, placing it in the top quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 1.3%. St. Charles's housing stock carries a median value of $369,700, and the median resident age is 41.6 years. Educational attainment runs 51.2% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 67.0% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 90 residential building permits were authorized in St. Charles (Building Boom), up 105% from five years earlier, per Census BPS data. St. Charles reports a comparatively low crime rate: FBI UCR reporting places total crime at 1155.9 incidents per 100,000 residents, below the national average (voluntary agency reporting, reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score).
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. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts Illinois's average monthly utility costs around $240 (state average). Commute times here average 24.5 minutes, with 72.9% driving alone and 14.5% working from home, per Census ACS commuting 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 St. Charles'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 comparison shortlist to work and mobility to reported crime to housing and income to population change; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For St. Charles, city-specific coverage includes local building permits, annual population history, commute-mode shares, FBI reported-crime rates.
No matched row is reported here for matched public-school count, within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
Which cities make useful reference points for St. Charles?
Within Illinois, the closest population matches are Glendale Heights (32,864 residents, $82,232 income); O'Fallon (32,139 residents, $102,793 income); Elk Grove Village (32,132 residents, $95,216 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Pasadena, MD (32,717 residents); Houma, LA (32,760 residents); Savage, MN (32,706 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.
What does the journey to work look like in St. Charles?
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 72.9%. The reported mean trip to work is 24.5 minutes.
What can the FBI record say about safety in St. Charles?
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 1155.9 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 49% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
How far does income reach against housing in St. Charles?
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 1.3%, 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.
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 St. Charles growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Recent estimates point upward. Growth can increase housing demand and service needs, but the permit record must move in the same direction before calling it a supply response; the two series measure different things.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +521 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +1.6% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 90 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
+1.6%
2025 estimate
33,594
2020 estimate
33,073
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
Above-average cost · BEA RPP 2024, Illinois average
B+
City profile score · St. Charles, IL
75/100
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.
Poverty rate A+
1.3%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share A
51.2%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income A-
$115,350
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Violent crime B
92 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger 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.
St. Charles profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Poverty rate: 91/100 (A+) · 1.3%
Bachelor's+ share: 85/100 (A) · 51.2%
Household income: 84/100 (A-) · $115,350
Violent crime: 73/100 (B) · 92 /100k
Cost of living: 40/100 (D) · 100.0 index
Where St. Charles sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
St. Charles'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 - St. Charles highlighted among 10 peers.Read the chart values
St. Charles, IL (this city): home $369,700, crime 1,156/100k
Savage, MN : home $395,600, crime 794/100k
Lathrop, CA : home $605,000, crime 1,723/100k
Goleta, CA : home $1,002,500, crime 1,774/100k
Los Gatos, CA : home $2,000,000+, crime 1,580/100k
Glendale Heights, IL : home $249,000, crime 1,091/100k
O'Fallon, IL : home $274,100, crime 1,215/100k
Elk Grove Village, IL : home $334,400, crime 1,815/100k
Mundelein, IL : home $285,600, crime 772/100k
Woodridge, IL : home $345,200, crime 878/100k
How does St. Charles compare to other US cities?
St. Charles measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income85% higher than other cities
Home value74% pricier than other cities
Median rent18% pricier than other cities
Safety58% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
A national percentile can hide a lot of local variation: narrowed to Illinois alone, St. Charles ranks #268 of 455 Illinois cities by lowest crime rate - a different, more locally useful comparison than stacking it against the entire country.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares St. Charles 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 St. Charles near the bottom of Illinois's cities
Among the 1,336 Illinois cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, St. Charles ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares St. Charles only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#123 of 1,311
91st percentile in Illinois
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,336
0th percentile in Illinois
Median Home Value
#83 of 1,315
94th percentile in Illinois
Poverty Rate
#1,184 of 1,335
11th percentile in Illinois
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#104 of 1,336
92nd 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
85th percentile nationally for median household income · 58th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
St. Charles's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
St. Charles'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 St. Charles's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$369,70026th percentilemore affordable than 26% 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
St. Charles'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
#7,724 of 15,516
More affordable than 50% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#1,180 of 3,317
Small cities (10,000–49,999)
At 3.2×, St. Charles sits in the moderate band:
national rank #7,724 of 15,516 and #1,180 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
$115,350St. Charles, IL median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context St. Charles, 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 St. Charles, IL.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)51.2%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)1.3%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)67.0%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
32,733
Median Income
$115,350
Median Home Value
$369,700
Median Age
41.6
Poverty Rate
1.3%
Labor force participation
67.0%
Bachelor's Degree+
51.2%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
1155.9
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
92.2
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
1063.7
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.
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
St. Charles's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
33,073 residents
2021
33,080 residents
2022
32,825 residents
2023
32,873 residents
2024
33,580 residents
2025
33,594 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Building Boom
Total Permits (2024)
90
housing units authorized
Single-Family
28
detached homes
Multifamily
62
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
2.7
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
44
44
0
$10.4M
2020
87
36
51
$17.8M
2021
25
25
0
$12.6M
2022
33
33
0
$14.3M
2023
318
50
268
$45.7M
2024
90
28
62
$18.2M
Permit volume increased 105% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
24.5 minutes
Drive Alone
72.9%
Carpool
7.3%
Public Transit
2.3%
Walk
1.6%
Work from Home
14.5%
Other
1.4%
Based on 17,816 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 St. Charles. 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 St. Charles 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 St. Charles sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How St. Charles 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, 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.