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Place dossier plate
SheetIL-WILLOW-HILL-IL · Willow Hill, IL 266 pop · income 4th 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 Willow Hill
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Willow Hill on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Lamont · lowest
34,436
Lamont · lowest
34,436 median HH income
42.8% of the leader · rank #1
Huntington · near
34,444
Huntington · near
34,444 median HH income
42.8% of the leader · rank #2
Irwinton · near
34,444
Irwinton · near
34,444 median HH income
42.8% of the leader · rank #3
Willow Hill · this city
34,464
Willow Hill · this city
34,464 median HH income
42.9% of the leader · rank #4
Pineville · near
34,464
Pineville · near
34,464 median HH income
42.9% of the leader · rank #5
Askov · near
34,464
Askov · near
34,464 median HH income
42.9% of the leader · rank #6
Ste. Marie · highest
80,417
Ste. Marie · highest
80,417 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 Willow Hill 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: 266.
Willow Hill ranks in the 4th percentile for household income nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS.
4th
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: Willow Hill, IL
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 266 residents in Willow Hill, a small town within Illinois. Median household income here is $34,464 per year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 24.1%. The median resident age is 27.6 years. About 2.1% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 51.2% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 0 residential units authorized here in 2024 (No Permits).
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. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Illinois run around $240, per EIA 2023 residential energy 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 Willow Hill'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 population change to work and mobility; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Willow Hill, city-specific coverage includes local building permits, annual population history, commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for FBI reported-crime rates, 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 Willow Hill?
Within Illinois, the closest population matches are Ste. Marie (266 residents, $80,417 income); Elliott (265 residents, $48,750 income); Verona (267 residents, $41,250 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Gainesville, AL (266 residents); Fort Washington, CA (266 residents); Hillrose, CO (266 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.
Is Willow Hill 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 -4 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -2.3% 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.
What does the journey to work look like in Willow Hill?
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%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Lowest-decile income · poverty 24.1% (Highest-decile poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
100.0 (US=100)
Above-average cost · BEA RPP 2024, Illinois average
F
City profile score · Willow Hill, IL
12/100
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.
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
24.1%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$34,464
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
2.1%
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).
Willow Hill profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 40/100 (D) · 100.0 index
Poverty rate: 7/100 (F) · 24.1%
Household income: 0/100 (F) · $34,464
Bachelor's+ share: 0/100 (F) · 2.1%
How does Willow Hill compare to other US cities?
Here's how Willow Hill stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income4% 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 Willow Hill 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 Willow Hill near the bottom of Illinois's cities
Among the 1,336 Illinois cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Willow Hill ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Willow Hill only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#1,291 of 1,311
2nd percentile in Illinois
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,336
0th percentile in Illinois
Poverty Rate
#66 of 1,335
95th percentile in Illinois
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#1,309 of 1,336
2nd 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
4th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Income distribution context
$34,464Willow Hill, IL median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Willow Hill, 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 Willow Hill, IL.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)2.1%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)24.1%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)51.2%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
266
Median Income
$34,464
Median Home Value
N/A
Median Age
27.6
Poverty Rate
24.1%
Labor force participation
51.2%
Bachelor's Degree+
2.1%
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Willow Hill's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
171 residents
2021
170 residents
2022
170 residents
2023
171 residents
2024
169 residents
2025
167 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
0
0
0
-
2020
0
0
0
-
2021
0
0
0
-
2022
0
0
0
-
2023
0
0
0
-
2024
0
0
0
-
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
72.9%
Carpool
9.4%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
1.2%
Work from Home
14.1%
Other
2.4%
Based on 85 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 Willow Hill. 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 Willow Hill 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 Willow Hill sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Willow Hill 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 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.