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Place dossier plate
SheetWA-WILKESON-WA · Wilkeson, WA 555 pop · income 81st 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 Wilkeson
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Wilkeson on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Fleming-Neon · lowest
37,969
Fleming-Neon · lowest
37,969 median HH income
28.6% of the leader · rank #1
Chatham · near
106,030
Chatham · near
106,030 median HH income
79.8% of the leader · rank #2
Tiffin · near
106,034
Tiffin · near
106,034 median HH income
79.8% of the leader · rank #3
Wilkeson · this city
106,042
Wilkeson · this city
106,042 median HH income
79.9% of the leader · rank #4
Double Spring · near
106,042
Double Spring · near
106,042 median HH income
79.9% of the leader · rank #5
Cumberland He… · near
106,048
Cumberland He… · near
106,048 median HH income
79.9% of the leader · rank #6
Chinook · highest
132,792
Chinook · highest
132,792 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 Wilkeson 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: 555.
Wilkeson ranks in the 81st percentile for household income nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS.
81st
percentile, household income
79th
percentile, home value
70th
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: Wilkeson, WA
555 people live in Wilkeson, Washington - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Wilkeson households earn a median of $106,042 annually, placing it in the top quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 6.7%. Typical homes in Wilkeson are valued around $419,200, and the median resident age is 29.3 years. About 15.0% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 61.6% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 0 residential building permits were authorized in Wilkeson (No Permits), down 100% from five years earlier, per Census BPS data.
Washington carries a cost-of-living premium: the state registers 107.0 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Above Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $1,472 per month. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Washington run around $188, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. Natural-hazard exposure scores 70.0 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (High).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Wilkeson'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 housing and income to population change to comparison shortlist to schools and households to work and mobility; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Wilkeson, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, matched public-school count, local building permits, commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for FBI reported-crime rates, within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Housing and income
How far does income reach against housing in Wilkeson?
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.
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 4.0 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 6.7%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Is Wilkeson growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -8 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -1.6% 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.
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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Wilkeson?
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 Washington, the closest population matches are Chinook (557 residents, $132,792 income); Skokomish (558 residents, $56,250 income); Cathlamet (569 residents, $57,750 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Calpella, CA (555 residents); Ephesus, GA (555 residents); Dawson, IL (555 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.
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. 15.0% 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.
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 Wilkeson?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 75.6%. 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.
Drive alone
75.6%
Work from home
5.7%
Public transit
2.7%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 262 workers age 16+.
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 A-
$106,042
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate C-
6.7%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share F
15.0%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Cost of living F
107.0 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Wilkeson profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Household income: 80/100 (A-) · $106,042
Poverty rate: 54/100 (C-) · 6.7%
Bachelor's+ share: 20/100 (F) · 15.0%
Cost of living: 15/100 (F) · 107.0 index
How does Wilkeson compare to other US cities?
Here's how Wilkeson stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income81% higher than other cities
Home value79% pricier than other cities
Median rent70% 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 Wilkeson against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Washington only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Washington-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Wilkeson near the bottom of Washington's cities
Among the 599 Washington cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Wilkeson ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Wilkeson only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#162 of 565
71st percentile in Washington
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 599
0th percentile in Washington
Median Home Value
#286 of 565
49th percentile in Washington
Poverty Rate
#262 of 598
56th percentile in Washington
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#482 of 599
19th percentile in Washington
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 Washington only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
81st percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Wilkeson's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$419,20021st percentilemore affordable than 21% 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
Wilkeson's home-value-to-income ratio: 4.0×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#10,568 of 15,516
More affordable than 32% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#8,281 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 4.0×, Wilkeson sits in the moderate band:
national rank #10,568 of 15,516 and #8,281 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
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
$106,042Wilkeson, WA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Wilkeson, WA median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Wilkeson, WA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)15.0%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)6.7%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)61.6%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
555
Median Income
$106,042
Median Home Value
$419,200
Median Age
29.3
Poverty Rate
6.7%
Labor force participation
61.6%
Bachelor's Degree+
15.0%
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
Wilkeson's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
496 residents
2021
493 residents
2022
486 residents
2023
484 residents
2024
484 residents
2025
488 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
2
2
0
$0.5M
2020
0
0
0
-
2021
0
0
0
-
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
75.6%
Carpool
16.0%
Public Transit
2.7%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
5.7%
Based on 262 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Washington statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $188
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Washington at $188 (electricity about $85 , water and sewer about $55 ).
These are Washington statewide averages, not a meter reading for Wilkeson. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Washington's BEA cost-of-living index is 107.0 (Above Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Wilkeson is $1,472/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Washington statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 70.0 / 100 (High).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Washington statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Wilkeson sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Wilkeson compares to similar-size Washington 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, 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.