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Place dossier plate
SheetIL-WEST-UNION-IL · West Union, IL 164 pop · income 54th 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 West Union
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest West Union on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Freeman Spur · lowest
35,000
Freeman Spur · lowest
35,000 median HH income
32.3% of the leader · rank #1
Deltona · near
72,967
Deltona · near
72,967 median HH income
67.4% of the leader · rank #2
West Union · this city
72,969
West Union · this city
72,969 median HH income
67.4% of the leader · rank #3
Butler · near
72,969
Butler · near
72,969 median HH income
67.4% of the leader · rank #4
Marion · near
72,969
Marion · near
72,969 median HH income
67.4% of the leader · rank #5
Ellenboro · near
72,969
Ellenboro · near
72,969 median HH income
67.4% of the leader · rank #6
Newbern · highest
108,333
Newbern · highest
108,333 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
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for West Union 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: 164.
Nationally, West Union sits in the 54th percentile for household income among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS.
54th
percentile, household income
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: West Union, IL
Illinois's West Union is a small town, with 164 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Median household income here is $72,969 per year, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 10.0%. The median resident age is 61.2 years. Educational attainment runs 4.2% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 62.2% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
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. 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. 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 West Union'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; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For West Union, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles, annual population history, FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits, matched public-school count; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Comparison shortlist
Which cities make useful reference points for West Union?
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.
Within Illinois, the closest population matches are Curran (164 residents, $55,417 income); Eagle Lake (164 residents); Sims (164 residents, $47,708 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Eunola, AL (164 residents); O'Kean, AR (164 residents); Lazear, CO (164 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.
What does the journey to work look like in West Union?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 84.3%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
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.
Above median income · poverty 10.0% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
100.0 (US=100)
Above-average cost · BEA RPP 2024, Illinois average
F
City profile score · West Union, IL
36/100
4 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.
Household income C-
$72,969
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate D
10.0%
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.
Bachelor's+ share F
4.2%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
West Union profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Household income: 52/100 (C-) · $72,969
Poverty rate: 40/100 (D) · 10.0%
Cost of living: 40/100 (D) · 100.0 index
Bachelor's+ share: 0/100 (F) · 4.2%
How does West Union compare to other US cities?
West Union measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income54% higher than other cities
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 West Union 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 West Union near the bottom of Illinois's cities
Among the 1,336 Illinois cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, West Union ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares West Union only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#531 of 1,311
59th percentile in Illinois
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,336
0th percentile in Illinois
Poverty Rate
#455 of 1,335
65th percentile in Illinois
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#1,272 of 1,336
5th 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
54th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Income distribution context
$72,969West Union, IL median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context West Union, 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 West Union, IL.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)4.2%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)10.0%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)62.2%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
164
Median Income
$72,969
Median Home Value
N/A
Median Age
61.2
Poverty Rate
10.0%
Labor force participation
62.2%
Bachelor's Degree+
4.2%
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
84.3%
Carpool
0.0%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
15.7%
Work from Home
0.0%
Based on 89 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 West Union. 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 West Union 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 West Union sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How West Union 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, 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.