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Place dossier plate
SheetIL-WHEATON-IL · Wheaton, IL 53,453 pop · income 87th 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 Wheaton
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Wheaton on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Huntington Pa… · lowest
56,952
Huntington Pa… · lowest
56,952 median HH income
47.3% of the leader · rank #1
Maynard · near
119,549
Maynard · near
119,549 median HH income
99.2% of the leader · rank #2
Lake Grove · near
119,558
Lake Grove · near
119,558 median HH income
99.2% of the leader · rank #3
Wheaton · this city
119,566
Wheaton · this city
119,566 median HH income
99.2% of the leader · rank #4
Daly City · near
119,570
Daly City · near
119,570 median HH income
99.2% of the leader · rank #5
Parole · near
119,591
Parole · near
119,591 median HH income
99.2% of the leader · rank #6
Minnetonka · highest
120,496
Minnetonka · highest
120,496 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 Wheaton 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: 53,453.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Wheaton - the verdict
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Wheaton places in the 87th percentile for household income and the 82nd percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
87th
percentile, household income
81st
percentile, home value
18th
percentile, median rent
82nd
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: Wheaton, IL
Wheaton is a small city in Illinois, home to 53,453 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. The typical household in Wheaton brings in $119,566 a year, placing it in the top quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 3.0%. Wheaton's housing stock carries a median value of $447,700, and the median resident age is 37.6 years. Educational attainment runs 64.1% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 62.3% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 340 residential building permits were authorized in Wheaton (Building Boom), up 2167% from five years earlier, per Census BPS data. Wheaton reports a comparatively low crime rate: FBI UCR figures show 590.7 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). The annual average temperature per NOAA climate normals runs 51.1°F with 39.9 inches of precipitation per year and 24.3 inches of snowfall.
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. HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $1,063 per month. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts Illinois's average monthly utility costs around $240 (state average). Commute times here average 19.9 minutes, with 61.5% driving alone and 24.0% working from home, per Census ACS commuting data. 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 Wheaton'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 schools and households to reported crime to population change to work and mobility to climate and hazard context to housing and income to comparison shortlist; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Wheaton, city-specific coverage includes matched public-school count, commute-mode shares, annual population history, local building permits, 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.
Question 1
What does the education layer cover for Wheaton?
The NCES join finds 17 public schools within the city match. 64.1% 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.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Wheaton?
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 590.7 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 74% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
The recent population line is broadly flat. That makes the composition of change more important than the headline count: housing turnover, household size, and age structure can shift even when the total barely moves.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +172 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +0.3% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 340 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Which cities make useful reference points for Wheaton?
Within Illinois, the closest population matches are Oak Park (53,315 residents, $108,026 income); Normal (52,908 residents, $66,350 income); Tinley Park (55,007 residents, $103,819 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Pinellas Park, FL (53,423 residents); Aloha, OR (53,362 residents); Galveston, TX (53,348 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.
Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in Wheaton?
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. Remote work has a visible role in the local pattern. That can reduce commute exposure for some workers, but it says nothing about job availability or broadband quality; read it alongside income and housing rather than as a stand-alone lifestyle score.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 61.5%. The reported mean trip to work is 19.9 minutes.
Public transit
4.6%
Work from home
24.0%
Drive alone
61.5%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 26,183 workers age 16+.
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 51.1°F, with 39.9 inches of precipitation and 24.3 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
51.1°F
Annual precipitation
39.9 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 Wheaton?
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.7 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 3.0%, 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.
Household income
$119,566
Home value
$447,700
Value / income
3.7×
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 · Wheaton, IL
76/100
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.
Bachelor's+ share A+
64.1%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income A
$119,566
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Violent crime A-
49 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Poverty rate B+
3.0%
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.
Wheaton profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Bachelor's+ share: 94/100 (A+) · 64.1%
Household income: 86/100 (A) · $119,566
Violent crime: 84/100 (A-) · 49 /100k
Poverty rate: 79/100 (B+) · 3.0%
Cost of living: 40/100 (D) · 100.0 index
Where Wheaton sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Wheaton'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 - Wheaton highlighted among 12 peers.Read the chart values
Wheaton, IL (this city): home $447,700, crime 591/100k
Pinellas Park, FL : home $251,900, crime 2,440/100k
Galveston, TX : home $294,300, crime 2,917/100k
Spring Hill, TN : home $452,400, crime 663/100k
Minnetonka, MN : home $456,200, crime 1,754/100k
Huntington Park, CA : home $557,600, crime 3,812/100k
Oak Park, IL : home $456,300, crime 3,931/100k
Normal, IL : home $199,900, crime 1,879/100k
Tinley Park, IL : home $289,000, crime 1,354/100k
Mount Prospect, IL : home $377,000, crime 977/100k
Hoffman Estates, IL : home $340,400, crime 1,142/100k
Berwyn, IL : home $286,000, crime 1,252/100k
How does Wheaton compare to other US cities?
Wheaton measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income87% higher than other cities
Home value81% pricier than other cities
Median rent18% pricier than other cities
Safety82% 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, Wheaton ranks #132 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 Wheaton 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 Wheaton near the bottom of Illinois's cities
Among the 1,336 Illinois cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Wheaton ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Wheaton only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#114 of 1,311
91st percentile in Illinois
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,336
0th percentile in Illinois
Median Home Value
#55 of 1,315
96th percentile in Illinois
Poverty Rate
#1,022 of 1,335
23rd percentile in Illinois
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#52 of 1,336
96th 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
87th percentile nationally for median household income · 82nd percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Wheaton's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Wheaton'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 Wheaton's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$447,70019th percentilemore affordable than 19% 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
Wheaton's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.7×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#9,857 of 15,516
More affordable than 36% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#270 of 750
Mid-size cities (50,000–199,999)
At 3.7×, Wheaton sits in the moderate band:
national rank #9,857 of 15,516 and #270 of 750mid-size cities (50,000–199,999).
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
$119,566Wheaton, IL median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Wheaton, 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 Wheaton, IL.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)64.1%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)3.0%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)62.3%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
53,453
Median Income
$119,566
Median Home Value
$447,700
Median Age
37.6
Poverty Rate
3.0%
Labor force participation
62.3%
Bachelor's Degree+
64.1%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
590.7
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
49.4
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
541.3
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
51.1°F
Annual Precipitation
39.9"
Annual Snowfall
24.3"
Schools
Total Schools
17
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Wheaton's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
53,893 residents
2021
53,604 residents
2022
53,100 residents
2023
53,204 residents
2024
53,361 residents
2025
54,065 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Building Boom
Total Permits (2024)
340
housing units authorized
Single-Family
6
detached homes
Multifamily
334
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
6.4
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
15
15
0
$7.4M
2020
39
39
0
$9.9M
2021
24
24
0
$6.8M
2022
32
14
18
$8.0M
2023
11
11
0
$3.7M
2024
340
6
334
$91.6M
Permit volume increased 2167% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
19.9 minutes
Drive Alone
61.5%
Carpool
4.7%
Public Transit
4.6%
Walk
3.3%
Work from Home
24.0%
Other
1.9%
Based on 26,183 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 Wheaton. 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 Wheaton 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 Wheaton sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Wheaton 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.