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-WATSEKA-IL · Watseka, IL 4,630 pop · income 10th pct · 9 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 Watseka
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Watseka on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Fairfield · lowest
41,026
Fairfield · lowest
41,026 median HH income
22.1% of the leader · rank #1
Jeffersonville · near
42,788
Jeffersonville · near
42,788 median HH income
23.0% of the leader · rank #2
Pontiac · near
42,791
Pontiac · near
42,791 median HH income
23.0% of the leader · rank #3
Union · near
42,791
Union · near
42,791 median HH income
23.0% of the leader · rank #4
Crossett · near
42,792
Crossett · near
42,792 median HH income
23.0% of the leader · rank #5
Watseka · this city
42,794
Watseka · this city
42,794 median HH income
23.0% of the leader · rank #6
Lakewood · highest
185,774
Lakewood · highest
185,774 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 Watseka 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: 4,630.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Watseka - the verdict
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Watseka lands in the 10th percentile for household income and the 45th percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
10th
percentile, household income
11th
percentile, home value
18th
percentile, median rent
45th
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: Watseka, IL
4,630 people live in Watseka, Illinois - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Watseka households earn a median of $42,794 annually, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 16.6%. Home values in Watseka run a median of $104,400, and the median resident age is 46.4 years. 11.3% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 49.2% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Housing supply pressure shows in Census Building Permit Survey data: 0 residential units were authorized in 2024 (No Permits), down 100% from five years earlier. Watseka reports a comparatively low crime rate: FBI UCR reporting places total crime at 1547.8 incidents per 100,000 residents, below the national average (voluntary agency reporting, reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score). NOAA puts Watseka's yearly average temperature at 50.8°F with 38.4 inches of precipitation per year and 17.1 inches of snowfall.
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. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Illinois run around $240, per EIA 2023 residential energy 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 Watseka'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 reported crime to population change to climate and hazard context to within-city variation to housing and income to schools and households to comparison shortlist to work and mobility; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Watseka, city-specific coverage includes FBI reported-crime rates, annual population history, commute-mode shares, within-city Census tract profiles, local building permits, matched public-school count.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
1. Reported crime
What can the FBI record say about safety in Watseka?
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 1547.8 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 32% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
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 -163 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -3.5% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 0 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Watseka?
Within Illinois, the closest population matches are Olympia Fields (4,636 residents, $107,656 income); Fairfield (4,658 residents, $41,026 income); Tuscola (4,675 residents, $77,034 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Alfred, NY (4,632 residents); Lorane, PA (4,633 residents); Ashville, OH (4,626 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.
Climate and hazard context
What physical conditions frame life in Watseka?
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 50.8°F, with 38.4 inches of precipitation and 17.1 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.
Mean temperature
50.8°F
Annual precipitation
38.4 in
FEMA risk index (state avg)
54.5
NOAA Climate Normals and FEMA National Risk Index (state-averaged on PlainCities). Hazard context is not address-level.
How far does income reach against housing in Watseka?
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 16.6%, 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.
Household income
$42,794
Home value
$104,400
Value / income
2.4×
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
The NCES join finds 4 public schools within the city match. 11.3% 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
4
Bachelor's degree+
11.3%
Poverty estimate
16.6%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
What does the journey to work look like in Watseka?
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 80.1%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Public transit
1.1%
Work from home
3.0%
Drive alone
80.1%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 1,888 workers age 16+.
Above-average cost · BEA RPP 2024, Illinois average
F
City profile score · Watseka, IL
26/100
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 C-
180 /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.
Poverty rate F
16.6%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$42,794
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
11.3%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Watseka profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Violent crime: 51/100 (C-) · 180 /100k
Cost of living: 40/100 (D) · 100.0 index
Poverty rate: 20/100 (F) · 16.6%
Household income: 11/100 (F) · $42,794
Bachelor's+ share: 10/100 (F) · 11.3%
Where Watseka sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Watseka'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 - Watseka highlighted among 27 peers.Read the chart values
Watseka, IL (this city): home $104,400, crime 1,548/100k
Ashville, OH : home $208,900, crime 559/100k
Olympia Fields, IL : home $289,900, crime 4,651/100k
Fairfield, IL : home $91,800, crime 3,237/100k
Tuscola, IL : home $148,100, crime 891/100k
Lakewood, IL : home $518,500, crime 281/100k
Cortland, IL : home $203,700, crime 509/100k
New York, NY : home $751,700, crime 3,039/100k
Los Angeles, CA : home $879,500, crime 2,212/100k
Chicago, IL : home $315,200, crime 4,012/100k
Houston, TX : home $253,400, crime 5,442/100k
Phoenix, AZ : home $381,900, crime 3,125/100k
Philadelphia, PA : home $232,400, crime 5,457/100k
San Antonio, TX : home $219,700, crime 5,218/100k
San Diego, CA : home $848,500, crime 2,082/100k
Dallas, TX : home $295,300, crime 4,010/100k
San Jose, CA : home $1,187,800, crime 3,195/100k
Austin, TX : home $512,700, crime 3,709/100k
Fort Worth, TX : home $277,300, crime 3,158/100k
Columbus, OH : home $234,500, crime 3,088/100k
Indianapolis, IN : home $207,000, crime 4,214/100k
San Francisco, CA : home $1,380,500, crime 4,526/100k
Seattle, WA : home $912,100, crime 5,783/100k
Denver, CO : home $586,700, crime 5,755/100k
Oklahoma City, OK : home $215,100, crime 3,570/100k
El Paso, TX : home $171,700, crime 1,772/100k
Washington, DC : home $724,600, crime 4,514/100k
How does Watseka compare to other US cities?
Watseka measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income10% higher than other cities
Home value11% pricier than other cities
Median rent18% pricier than other cities
Safety45% 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: Watseka ranks #315 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 Watseka 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 Watseka near the bottom of Illinois's cities
Among the 1,336 Illinois cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Watseka ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Watseka only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#1,217 of 1,311
7th percentile in Illinois
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,336
0th percentile in Illinois
Median Home Value
#787 of 1,315
40th percentile in Illinois
Poverty Rate
#196 of 1,335
85th percentile in Illinois
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#1,023 of 1,336
23rd 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
10th percentile nationally for median household income · 45th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Watseka's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Watseka'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 Watseka's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$104,400Among the most affordablemore affordable than 89% 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
Watseka's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.4×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#3,699 of 15,516
More affordable than 76% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#3,357 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.4×, Watseka sits in the affordable band:
national rank #3,699 of 15,516 and #3,357 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
$42,794Watseka, IL median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Watseka, 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 Watseka, IL.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)11.3%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)16.6%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)49.2%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
4,630
Median Income
$42,794
Median Home Value
$104,400
Median Age
46.4
Poverty Rate
16.6%
Labor force participation
49.2%
Bachelor's Degree+
11.3%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
1547.8
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
179.5
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
1368.3
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
50.8°F
Annual Precipitation
38.4"
Annual Snowfall
17.1"
Schools
Total Schools
4
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Watseka's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
4,673 residents
2021
4,631 residents
2022
4,566 residents
2023
4,514 residents
2024
4,525 residents
2025
4,510 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
Total Permits (2024)
0
housing units authorized
Single-Family
0
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
1
1
0
$0.2M
2020
0
0
0
-
2021
1
1
0
$0.1M
2022
0
0
0
-
2023
0
0
0
-
2024
0
0
0
-
Permit volume decreased 100% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
80.1%
Carpool
13.1%
Public Transit
1.1%
Walk
2.0%
Work from Home
3.0%
Other
0.7%
Based on 1,888 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 Watseka. 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 Watseka 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 Watseka sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Watseka 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.