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Place dossier plate
SheetWI-BEAVER-DAM-WI · Beaver Dam, WI 16,629 pop · income 48th pct · 20 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 Beaver Dam
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Beaver Dam on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Chaparral · lowest
46,102
Chaparral · lowest
46,102 median HH income
35.5% of the leader · rank #1
Buffalo Soaps… · near
68,750
Buffalo Soaps… · near
68,750 median HH income
52.9% of the leader · rank #2
Friendship · near
68,750
Friendship · near
68,750 median HH income
52.9% of the leader · rank #3
Garner · near
68,750
Garner · near
68,750 median HH income
52.9% of the leader · rank #4
Poyen · near
68,750
Poyen · near
68,750 median HH income
52.9% of the leader · rank #5
Beaver Dam · this city
68,757
Beaver Dam · this city
68,757 median HH income
52.9% of the leader · rank #6
Farmingville · highest
129,920
Farmingville · highest
129,920 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 Beaver Dam 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: 16,629.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Beaver Dam - the verdict
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Beaver Dam lands in the 48th percentile for household income and the 53rd percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
48th
percentile, household income
40th
percentile, home value
29th
percentile, median rent
53rd
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: Beaver Dam, WI
Wisconsin's Beaver Dam is a small town, with 16,629 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. The typical household in Beaver Dam brings in $68,757 a year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 3.0%. Home values in Beaver Dam run a median of $189,800, and the median resident age is 40.6 years. Educational attainment runs 27.3% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 68.4% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Housing supply pressure shows in Census Building Permit Survey data: 34 residential units were authorized in 2024 (Construction Slowdown), down 40% from five years earlier. Beaver Dam reports a comparatively low crime rate: FBI UCR reporting places total crime at 1268.7 incidents per 100,000 residents, below the national average (voluntary agency reporting, reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score).
Living costs in Wisconsin run below the national norm: the state registers 94.1 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Below Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $1,097 monthly. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Wisconsin run around $225, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. Commute times here average 21.2 minutes, with 81.0% driving alone and 6.5% working from home, per Census ACS commuting data. FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 59.1 out of 100 (Moderate).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Beaver Dam'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 work and mobility to schools and households to reported crime to housing and income to population change to within-city variation; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Beaver Dam, city-specific coverage includes matched public-school count, within-city Census tract profiles, commute-mode shares, FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits, annual population history.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
1. Comparison shortlist
Which cities make useful reference points for Beaver Dam?
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 Menomonie (16,548 residents, $54,587 income); River Falls (16,349 residents, $78,078 income); Ashwaubenon (16,931 residents, $71,180 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Glen Allen, VA (16,630 residents); Myrtle Grove, FL (16,637 residents); Chaparral, NM (16,642 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.
What does the journey to work look like in Beaver Dam?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 81.0%. The reported mean trip to work is 21.2 minutes.
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.
What does the education layer cover for Beaver Dam?
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 8 public schools within the city match. 27.3% 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.
What can 20 Census tracts reveal inside Beaver Dam?
PlainCities matches 20 Census tracts to this city.
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.
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.
Reported crime
What can the FBI record say about safety in Beaver Dam?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 1268.7 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 44% 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.
Total reported rate
1268.7
Violent rate
145.7
Property rate
1123.0
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
How far does income reach against housing in Beaver Dam?
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 2.8 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 3.0%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Value / income
2.8×
Home value
$189,800
Household income
$68,757
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Is Beaver Dam growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -185 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -1.1% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 34 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.
2020 estimate
16,727
2025 estimate
16,542
Period change
-1.1%
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Wisconsin average
C+
City profile score · Beaver Dam, WI
61/100
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.
Poverty rate B+
3.0%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
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.
Violent crime C
146 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share C-
27.3%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income D
$68,757
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Beaver Dam profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Poverty rate: 79/100 (B+) · 3.0%
Cost of living: 68/100 (B-) · 94.1 index
Violent crime: 59/100 (C) · 146 /100k
Bachelor's+ share: 53/100 (C-) · 27.3%
Household income: 47/100 (D) · $68,757
Where Beaver Dam sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Beaver Dam'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 - Beaver Dam highlighted among 26 peers.Read the chart values
Beaver Dam, WI (this city): home $189,800, crime 1,269/100k
Fairburn, GA : home $249,200, crime 1,144/100k
Menomonie, WI : home $203,800, crime 1,344/100k
River Falls, WI : home $299,800, crime 990/100k
Ashwaubenon, WI : home $245,100, crime 2,448/100k
Kaukauna, WI : home $198,800, crime 783/100k
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 Beaver Dam compare to other US cities?
Where Beaver Dam sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income48% higher than other cities
Home value40% pricier than other cities
Median rent29% pricier than other cities
Safety53% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
Zoom in to just Wisconsin and the picture shifts: Beaver Dam ranks #128 of 202 Wisconsin cities by lowest crime rate, a different read than the national percentile above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Beaver Dam 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 Beaver Dam near the bottom of Wisconsin's cities
Among the 761 Wisconsin cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Beaver Dam ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Beaver Dam only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#373 of 753
50th percentile in Wisconsin
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 761
0th percentile in Wisconsin
Median Home Value
#340 of 754
55th percentile in Wisconsin
Poverty Rate
#520 of 761
31st percentile in Wisconsin
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#257 of 761
66th 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
48th percentile nationally for median household income · 53rd percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Beaver Dam's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Beaver Dam'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 Beaver Dam's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$189,800Among the most affordablemore affordable than 60% 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
Beaver Dam's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.8×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#5,363 of 15,516
More affordable than 65% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#615 of 3,317
Small cities (10,000–49,999)
At 2.8×, Beaver Dam sits in the affordable band:
national rank #5,363 of 15,516 and #615 of 3,317small cities (10,000–49,999).
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
$68,757Beaver Dam, WI median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Beaver Dam, 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 Beaver Dam, WI.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)27.3%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)3.0%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)68.4%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
16,629
Median Income
$68,757
Median Home Value
$189,800
Median Age
40.6
Poverty Rate
3.0%
Labor force participation
68.4%
Bachelor's Degree+
27.3%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
1268.7
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
145.7
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
1123.0
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
8
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Beaver Dam's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
16,727 residents
2021
16,671 residents
2022
16,630 residents
2023
16,583 residents
2024
16,520 residents
2025
16,542 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📉 Construction Slowdown
Total Permits (2024)
34
housing units authorized
Single-Family
26
detached homes
Multifamily
8
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
2
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
57
3
54
$6.7M
2020
41
5
36
$5.5M
2021
6
2
4
$1.1M
2022
9
9
0
$2.0M
2023
25
21
4
$5.6M
2024
34
26
8
$13.0M
Permit volume decreased 40% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
21.2 minutes
Drive Alone
81.0%
Carpool
7.3%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
3.8%
Work from Home
6.5%
Other
1.4%
Based on 9,261 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 Beaver Dam. 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 Beaver Dam 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 Beaver Dam sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Beaver Dam 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.