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Place dossier plate
SheetWI-ADAMS-WI · Adams, WI 2,144 pop · income 9th pct · 8 tracts
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 Adams
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Adams on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Slater · lowest
40,313
Slater · lowest
40,313 median HH income
19.9% of the leader · rank #1
Oak Grove · near
41,912
Oak Grove · near
41,912 median HH income
20.6% of the leader · rank #2
Adams · this city
41,917
Adams · this city
41,917 median HH income
20.6% of the leader · rank #3
Taylorsville · near
41,917
Taylorsville · near
41,917 median HH income
20.6% of the leader · rank #4
Alcolu · near
41,917
Alcolu · near
41,917 median HH income
20.6% of the leader · rank #5
Maysville · near
41,923
Maysville · near
41,923 median HH income
20.6% of the leader · rank #6
Crompond · highest
203,080
Crompond · highest
203,080 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 Adams 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: 2,144.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Adams - the verdict
Adams ranks in the 9th percentile for household income and the 22nd percentile for safety nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
9th
percentile, household income
10th
percentile, home value
29th
percentile, median rent
22nd
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: Adams, WI
Wisconsin's Adams is a small town, with 2,144 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Median household income here is $41,917 per year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 10.5%. Adams's housing stock carries a median value of $101,200, and the median resident age is 43.5 years. 13.7% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 45.5% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 2 residential units authorized here in 2024 (Building Boom), up 100% from five years earlier. Crime here tracks close to the national norm: FBI UCR figures show 2521.0 crimes per 100,000 residents, near the national average (reporting is voluntary across agencies, so treat this as reporting activity rather than a definitive danger score).
Living costs in Wisconsin run below the national norm: on BEA's 100-equals-national-average cost index, Wisconsin scores 94.1 (Below Average), per the 2024 Regional Price Parities release. A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $1,097 per month statewide. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts Wisconsin's average monthly utility costs around $225 (state average). Natural-hazard exposure scores 59.1 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (Moderate).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Adams'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 population change to within-city variation to schools and households to comparison shortlist to work and mobility to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Adams, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits, within-city Census tract profiles, commute-mode shares, matched public-school count.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
Question 1
What can the FBI record say about safety in Adams?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 2521.0 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, above the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 11% higher 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.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +38 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +2.2% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 2 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.
That layer breaks the citywide income, rent, and home-value medians into smaller Census geographies, which can reveal differences that one municipal median necessarily hides. A tract is a statistical area, not a locally defined neighborhood or a promise about conditions on a particular block. Start with the city profile for the broad comparison, then use the tract layer to test whether the same housing and income pattern is consistent across the city. Large within-city spreads are a reason to avoid treating any citywide median as a universal resident experience.
Which cities make useful reference points for Adams?
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 Wisconsin, the closest population matches are Bohners Lake (2,138 residents, $77,021 income); Kohler (2,136 residents, $135,688 income); Colby (2,118 residents, $52,574 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Bethel Island, CA (2,144 residents); Merrionette Park, IL (2,144 residents); Slater, MO (2,144 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.
Schools and households
What does the education layer cover for Adams?
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.
The NCES join finds 3 public schools within the city match. 13.7% 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
10.5%
Bachelor's degree+
13.7%
Matched public schools
3
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 85.2%. 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. The profile is strongly car-oriented, so a relocation comparison should put trip distance, vehicle access, and household fuel costs ahead of a citywide commute average. The same-state peer links offer a more relevant benchmark than a national label.
Drive alone
85.2%
Work from home
4.1%
Public transit
0.0%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 730 workers age 16+.
How far does income reach against housing in Adams?
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 10.5%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Value / income
2.4×
Home value
$101,200
Household income
$41,917
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Lowest-decile income · poverty 10.5% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
94.1 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Wisconsin average
F
City profile score · Adams, WI
28/100
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.
Cost of living B-
94.1 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
10.5%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share F
13.7%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income F
$41,917
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Violent crime F
616 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Adams profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 68/100 (B-) · 94.1 index
Poverty rate: 38/100 (F) · 10.5%
Bachelor's+ share: 17/100 (F) · 13.7%
Household income: 9/100 (F) · $41,917
Violent crime: 9/100 (F) · 616 /100k
Where Adams sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Adams'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 - Adams highlighted among 23 peers.Read the chart values
Adams, WI (this city): home $101,200, crime 2,521/100k
Kohler, WI : home $369,300, crime 2,803/100k
Spooner, WI : home $141,800, crime 1,540/100k
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 Adams compare to other US cities?
Where Adams sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income9% higher than other cities
Home value10% pricier than other cities
Median rent29% pricier than other cities
Safety22% 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 Wisconsin alone, Adams ranks #189 of 202 Wisconsin 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 Adams against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Wisconsin only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Wisconsin-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Adams near the bottom of Wisconsin's cities
Among the 761 Wisconsin cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Adams ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Adams only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#715 of 753
5th percentile in Wisconsin
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 761
0th percentile in Wisconsin
Median Home Value
#695 of 754
8th percentile in Wisconsin
Poverty Rate
#160 of 761
78th percentile in Wisconsin
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#567 of 761
25th percentile in Wisconsin
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 Wisconsin only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
9th percentile nationally for median household income · 22nd percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Adams's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Adams'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 Adams's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$101,200Among the most affordablemore affordable than 90% 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
Adams's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.4×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#3,563 of 15,516
More affordable than 77% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#3,241 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.4×, Adams sits in the affordable band:
national rank #3,563 of 15,516 and #3,241 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
$41,917Adams, WI median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Adams, WI median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Adams, WI.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)13.7%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)10.5%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)45.5%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
2,144
Median Income
$41,917
Median Home Value
$101,200
Median Age
43.5
Poverty Rate
10.5%
Labor force participation
45.5%
Bachelor's Degree+
13.7%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
2521.0
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
616.2
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
1904.8
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
3
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Adams's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
1,765 residents
2021
1,776 residents
2022
1,784 residents
2023
1,801 residents
2024
1,798 residents
2025
1,803 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Building Boom
Total Permits (2024)
2
housing units authorized
Single-Family
2
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
0.9
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
1
1
0
$0.1M
2020
0
0
0
-
2021
0
0
0
-
2022
0
0
0
-
2023
1
1
0
$0.1M
2024
2
2
0
$0.6M
Permit volume increased 100% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
85.2%
Carpool
5.5%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
3.2%
Work from Home
4.1%
Other
2.0%
Based on 730 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Wisconsin statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $225
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Wisconsin at $225 (electricity about $100 , water and sewer about $45 ).
These are Wisconsin statewide averages, not a meter reading for Adams. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Wisconsin's BEA cost-of-living index is 94.1 (Below Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Adams is $1,097/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Wisconsin statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 59.1 / 100 (Moderate).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Wisconsin statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Adams sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Adams compares to similar-size Wisconsin 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.