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Place dossier plate
SheetIL-WONDER-LAKE-IL · Wonder Lake, IL 4,141 pop · income 79th 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 Wonder Lake
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Wonder Lake on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Caseyville · lowest
57,919
Caseyville · lowest
57,919 median HH income
23.2% of the leader · rank #1
Sandia Knolls · near
102,801
Sandia Knolls · near
102,801 median HH income
41.1% of the leader · rank #2
Marlboro · near
102,813
Marlboro · near
102,813 median HH income
41.1% of the leader · rank #3
Wonder Lake · this city
102,829
Wonder Lake · this city
102,829 median HH income
41.1% of the leader · rank #4
Spring Lake H… · near
102,829
Spring Lake H… · near
102,829 median HH income
41.1% of the leader · rank #5
Summitview · near
102,830
Summitview · near
102,830 median HH income
41.1% of the leader · rank #6
Kildeer · highest
250,001
Kildeer · highest
250,001 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 Wonder Lake 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: 4,141.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Wonder Lake - the verdict
Wonder Lake ranks in the 79th percentile for household income and the 85th percentile for safety nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
79th
percentile, household income
54th
percentile, home value
18th
percentile, median rent
85th
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: Wonder Lake, IL
Illinois's Wonder Lake is a small town, with 4,141 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Wonder Lake households earn a median of $102,829 annually, placing it in the top quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 3.5%. Home values in Wonder Lake run a median of $242,300, and the median resident age is 33.8 years. About 23.5% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 67.8% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Housing supply pressure shows in Census Building Permit Survey data: 128 residential units were authorized in 2024 (Active). Wonder Lake reports a comparatively low crime rate: FBI UCR figures show 514.5 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: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts Illinois at 100.0 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Near Average). 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. 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 Wonder Lake'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 work and mobility to population change to comparison shortlist to housing and income to schools and households; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Wonder Lake, city-specific coverage includes FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits, matched public-school count, annual population history, commute-mode shares.
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 can the FBI record say about safety in Wonder Lake?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 514.5 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 77% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
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.
What does the journey to work look like in Wonder Lake?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 81.5%. 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.
Is Wonder Lake growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +1,589 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +39.7% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 128 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Recent estimates point upward. Growth can increase housing demand and service needs, but the permit record must move in the same direction before calling it a supply response; the two series measure different things.
Which cities make useful reference points for Wonder Lake?
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.
Within Illinois, the closest population matches are Coal Valley (4,142 residents, $104,781 income); Rosemont (4,145 residents, $69,153 income); Caseyville (4,170 residents, $57,919 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Gibson, AR (4,141 residents); Lambertville, NJ (4,141 residents); Akwesasne, NY (4,140 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.
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.
Housing and income
How far does income reach against housing in Wonder Lake?
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.
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 3.5%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Value / income
2.4×
Home value
$242,300
Household income
$102,829
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
What does the education layer cover for Wonder Lake?
The matched institution count is small, so district boundaries and schools outside the city line may matter more than the municipal count suggests. Use the number as a coverage cue, then verify attendance zones with the district before making a household decision.
The NCES join finds 1 public school within the city match. 23.5% 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.
Poverty estimate
3.5%
Bachelor's degree+
23.5%
Matched public schools
1
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
Above-average cost · BEA RPP 2024, Illinois average
B-
City profile score · Wonder Lake, 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.
Violent crime A+
19 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Household income B+
$102,829
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate B+
3.5%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share D
23.5%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; 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.
Wonder Lake profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Violent crime: 92/100 (A+) · 19 /100k
Household income: 78/100 (B+) · $102,829
Poverty rate: 75/100 (B+) · 3.5%
Bachelor's+ share: 44/100 (D) · 23.5%
Cost of living: 40/100 (D) · 100.0 index
Where Wonder Lake sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Wonder Lake'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 - Wonder Lake highlighted among 27 peers.Read the chart values
Wonder Lake, IL (this city): home $242,300, crime 515/100k
Lambertville, NJ : home $534,100, crime 480/100k
Southport, NC : home $394,900, crime 1,157/100k
Coal Valley, IL : home $208,700, crime 816/100k
Rosemont, IL : home $403,600, crime 7,116/100k
Caseyville, IL : home $94,900, crime 1,380/100k
Kildeer, IL : home $697,900, crime 781/100k
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 Wonder Lake compare to other US cities?
Where Wonder Lake sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income79% higher than other cities
Home value54% pricier than other cities
Median rent18% pricier than other cities
Safety85% 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, Wonder Lake ranks #113 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 Wonder Lake 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 Wonder Lake near the bottom of Illinois's cities
Among the 1,336 Illinois cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Wonder Lake ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Wonder Lake only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#202 of 1,311
85th percentile in Illinois
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,336
0th percentile in Illinois
Median Home Value
#245 of 1,315
81st percentile in Illinois
Poverty Rate
#977 of 1,335
26th percentile in Illinois
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#455 of 1,336
66th 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
79th percentile nationally for median household income · 85th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Wonder Lake's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Wonder Lake'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 Wonder Lake's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$242,30046th percentilemore affordable than 46% 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
Wonder Lake's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.4×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#3,263 of 15,516
More affordable than 79% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#2,990 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.4×, Wonder Lake sits in the affordable band:
national rank #3,263 of 15,516 and #2,990 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
$102,829Wonder Lake, IL median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Wonder Lake, 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 Wonder Lake, IL.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)23.5%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)3.5%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)67.8%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
4,141
Median Income
$102,829
Median Home Value
$242,300
Median Age
33.8
Poverty Rate
3.5%
Labor force participation
67.8%
Bachelor's Degree+
23.5%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
514.5
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
19.1
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
495.4
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
1
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Wonder Lake's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
4,004 residents
2021
4,010 residents
2022
4,491 residents
2023
4,922 residents
2024
5,315 residents
2025
5,593 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
🏗️ Active
Total Permits (2024)
128
housing units authorized
Single-Family
53
detached homes
Multifamily
75
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
30.9
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
0
0
0
-
2020
1
1
0
$0.4M
2021
221
221
0
$32.5M
2022
186
186
0
$27.5M
2023
168
168
0
$24.9M
2024
128
53
75
$7.7M
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
81.5%
Carpool
4.1%
Public Transit
0.3%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
14.1%
Based on 2,146 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 Wonder Lake. 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 Wonder Lake 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 Wonder Lake sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Wonder Lake 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.