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.
Place dossier plate
SheetIL-WASHINGTON-IL · Washington, IL 15,946 pop · income 72nd 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 Washington
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Washington on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Mattoon · lowest
47,308
Mattoon · lowest
47,308 median HH income
30.6% of the leader · rank #1
Fairfield · near
91,354
Fairfield · near
91,354 median HH income
59.1% of the leader · rank #2
Glen Cove · near
91,355
Glen Cove · near
91,355 median HH income
59.1% of the leader · rank #3
Stockton · near
91,359
Stockton · near
91,359 median HH income
59.1% of the leader · rank #4
Washington · this city
91,360
Washington · this city
91,360 median HH income
59.1% of the leader · rank #5
Three Lakes · near
91,364
Three Lakes · near
91,364 median HH income
59.1% of the leader · rank #6
La Grange · highest
154,556
La Grange · highest
154,556 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 Washington 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: 15,946.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Washington - the verdict
Nationally, Washington sits in the 72nd percentile for household income and the 55th percentile for safety among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
72nd
percentile, household income
47th
percentile, home value
18th
percentile, median rent
55th
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: Washington, IL
Illinois's Washington is a small town, with 15,946 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Median household income here is $91,360 per year, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 2.8%. Typical homes in Washington are valued around $216,700, and the median resident age is 37.3 years. Educational attainment runs 43.8% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 63.7% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 22 residential units authorized here in 2024 (Growing), up 16% from five years earlier. Washington reports a comparatively low crime rate: FBI UCR figures show 1224.6 crimes per 100,000 residents, below the national average (reporting is voluntary across agencies, so treat this as reporting activity rather than 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. Commute times here average 17.7 minutes, with 79.7% driving alone and 12.4% working from home, per Census ACS commuting data. 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 Washington'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 reported crime to schools and households to population change to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Washington, city-specific coverage includes matched public-school count, local building permits, annual population history, commute-mode shares, FBI reported-crime rates.
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. Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in Washington?
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 79.7%. The reported mean trip to work is 17.7 minutes.
Which cities make useful reference points for Washington?
Within Illinois, the closest population matches are La Grange (15,999 residents, $154,556 income); Prospect Heights (15,681 residents, $91,599 income); Fairview Heights (16,255 residents, $77,960 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Longwood, FL (15,952 residents); Warrington, FL (15,935 residents); Grain Valley, MO (15,967 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 can the FBI record say about safety in Washington?
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 1224.6 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 46% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
What does the education layer cover for Washington?
The NCES join finds 7 public schools within the city match. 43.8% 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.
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 Washington 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 -167 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -1.0% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 22 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
-1.0%
2025 estimate
15,902
2020 estimate
16,069
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
How far does income reach against housing in Washington?
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 2.4 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 2.8%, 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
$91,360
Home value
$216,700
Value / income
2.4×
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 · Washington, IL
68/100
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-
2.8%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share B+
43.8%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Violent crime B
95 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Household income B
$91,360
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); 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.
Washington profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Poverty rate: 80/100 (A-) · 2.8%
Bachelor's+ share: 78/100 (B+) · 43.8%
Violent crime: 72/100 (B) · 95 /100k
Household income: 71/100 (B) · $91,360
Cost of living: 40/100 (D) · 100.0 index
Where Washington sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Washington'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 - Washington highlighted among 11 peers.Read the chart values
Washington, IL (this city): home $216,700, crime 1,225/100k
Longwood, FL : home $327,400, crime 1,607/100k
Grain Valley, MO : home $269,800, crime 1,406/100k
The Dalles, OR : home $318,400, crime 2,928/100k
Indianola, IA : home $228,100, crime 1,745/100k
La Grange, IL : home $582,600, crime 963/100k
Prospect Heights, IL : home $347,500, crime 747/100k
Fairview Heights, IL : home $166,800, crime 3,436/100k
Mattoon, IL : home $96,000, crime 1,731/100k
Country Club Hills, IL : home $180,600, crime 2,876/100k
Morton, IL : home $238,900, crime 910/100k
How does Washington compare to other US cities?
Here's how Washington stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income72% higher than other cities
Home value47% pricier than other cities
Median rent18% pricier than other cities
Safety55% 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: Washington ranks #279 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 Washington 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 Washington near the bottom of Illinois's cities
Among the 1,336 Illinois cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Washington ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Washington only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#293 of 1,311
78th percentile in Illinois
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,336
0th percentile in Illinois
Median Home Value
#309 of 1,315
77th percentile in Illinois
Poverty Rate
#1,045 of 1,335
21st percentile in Illinois
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#150 of 1,336
89th 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
72nd percentile nationally for median household income · 55th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Washington's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Washington'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 Washington's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$216,700Among the most affordablemore affordable than 53% 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
Washington's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.4×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#3,341 of 15,516
More affordable than 78% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#263 of 3,317
Small cities (10,000–49,999)
At 2.4×, Washington sits in the affordable band:
national rank #3,341 of 15,516 and #263 of 3,317small cities (10,000–49,999).
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
$91,360Washington, IL median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Washington, 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 Washington, IL.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)43.8%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)2.8%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)63.7%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
15,946
Median Income
$91,360
Median Home Value
$216,700
Median Age
37.3
Poverty Rate
2.8%
Labor force participation
63.7%
Bachelor's Degree+
43.8%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
1224.6
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
95.2
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
1129.4
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
7
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Washington's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
16,069 residents
2021
16,001 residents
2022
15,868 residents
2023
15,869 residents
2024
15,869 residents
2025
15,902 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
🏗️ Growing
Total Permits (2024)
22
housing units authorized
Single-Family
11
detached homes
Multifamily
11
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
1.4
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
19
19
0
$5.8M
2020
17
17
0
$4.8M
2021
11
11
0
$3.9M
2022
15
7
8
$2.8M
2023
6
6
0
$1.7M
2024
22
11
11
$6.6M
Permit volume increased 16% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
17.7 minutes
Drive Alone
79.7%
Carpool
5.0%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
2.0%
Work from Home
12.4%
Other
0.9%
Based on 7,446 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 Washington. 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 Washington 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 Washington sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Washington 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.