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Place dossier plate
SheetWI-ELM-GROVE-WI · Elm Grove, WI 6,428 pop · income 91st 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 Elm Grove
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Elm Grove on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Huron · lowest
44,784
Huron · lowest
44,784 median HH income
26.9% of the leader · rank #1
Fairmount · near
133,232
Fairmount · near
133,232 median HH income
80.0% of the leader · rank #2
Lakeview · near
133,265
Lakeview · near
133,265 median HH income
80.0% of the leader · rank #3
Elm Grove · this city
133,304
Elm Grove · this city
133,304 median HH income
80.0% of the leader · rank #4
Glen Ellyn · near
133,346
Glen Ellyn · near
133,346 median HH income
80.1% of the leader · rank #5
Chesterfield · near
133,380
Chesterfield · near
133,380 median HH income
80.1% of the leader · rank #6
Watchung · highest
166,536
Watchung · highest
166,536 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 Elm Grove 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: 6,428.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Elm Grove - the verdict
Nationally, Elm Grove sits in the 91st percentile for household income and the 85th percentile for safety among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
91st
percentile, household income
83rd
percentile, home value
29th
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: Elm Grove, WI
Elm Grove is a small town in Wisconsin, home to 6,428 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Median household income here is $133,304 per year, placing it in the top quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 3.4%. Typical homes in Elm Grove are valued around $468,000, and the median resident age is 44.6 years. Educational attainment runs 67.0% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 62.0% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Housing supply pressure shows in Census Building Permit Survey data: 4 residential units were authorized in 2024 (Slowing), down 20% from five years earlier. Elm Grove reports a comparatively low crime rate: the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program logs 495.9 total incidents per 100,000 residents here, below the national average (agency reporting is voluntary, so this measures reporting activity, not a definitive danger score).
Living costs in Wisconsin run below the national norm: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts Wisconsin at 94.1 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Below Average). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $1,097 per month. Monthly utility costs average around $225 across Wisconsin, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. 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 Elm Grove'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 reported crime to comparison shortlist to schools and households 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 Elm Grove, city-specific coverage includes local building permits, FBI reported-crime rates, matched public-school count, commute-mode shares, annual population history.
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.
1. Housing and income
How far does income reach against housing in Elm Grove?
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 3.5 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 3.4%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Elm Grove?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 495.9 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 78% 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Elm Grove?
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 Lake Mills (6,391 residents, $87,039 income); Twin Lakes (6,351 residents, $85,800 income); Waupaca (6,314 residents, $52,586 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Chesapeake Beach, MD (6,428 residents); Watchung, NJ (6,429 residents); Eatonton, GA (6,430 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 education layer cover for Elm Grove?
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 2 public schools within the city match. 67.0% 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.
Population change
Is Elm Grove growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -206 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -3.1% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 4 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
6,560
2025 estimate
6,354
Period change
-3.1%
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
What does the journey to work look like in Elm Grove?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 71.0%. 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. Remote work has a visible role in the local pattern. That can reduce commute exposure for some workers, but it says nothing about job availability or broadband quality; read it alongside income and housing rather than as a stand-alone lifestyle score.
Drive alone
71.0%
Work from home
22.3%
Public transit
1.0%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 2,973 workers age 16+.
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Wisconsin average
A
City profile score · Elm Grove, WI
85/100
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+
0 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share A+
67.0%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income A+
$133,304
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate B+
3.4%
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.
Elm Grove profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Violent crime: 97/100 (A+) · 0 /100k
Bachelor's+ share: 96/100 (A+) · 67.0%
Household income: 91/100 (A+) · $133,304
Poverty rate: 76/100 (B+) · 3.4%
Cost of living: 68/100 (B-) · 94.1 index
Where Elm Grove sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Elm Grove'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 - Elm Grove highlighted among 10 peers.Read the chart values
Elm Grove, WI (this city): home $468,000, crime 496/100k
Watchung, NJ : home $833,300, crime 4,216/100k
Eatonton, GA : home $144,800, crime 1,471/100k
Huron, CA : home $236,500, crime 1,303/100k
Mount Vernon, IN : home $164,200, crime 1,140/100k
Leitchfield, KY : home $156,700, crime 1,389/100k
Lake Mills, WI : home $282,400, crime 669/100k
Waupaca, WI : home $177,600, crime 1,732/100k
Slinger, WI : home $337,700, crime 510/100k
Fox Point, WI : home $414,900, crime 595/100k
How does Elm Grove compare to other US cities?
Where Elm Grove sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income91% higher than other cities
Home value83% pricier than other cities
Median rent29% pricier than other cities
Safety85% 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: Elm Grove ranks #49 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 Elm Grove 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 Elm Grove near the bottom of Wisconsin's cities
Among the 761 Wisconsin cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Elm Grove ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Elm Grove only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#18 of 753
98th percentile in Wisconsin
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 761
0th percentile in Wisconsin
Median Home Value
#19 of 754
97th percentile in Wisconsin
Poverty Rate
#485 of 761
35th percentile in Wisconsin
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#15 of 761
98th 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
91st percentile nationally for median household income · 85th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Elm Grove's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Elm Grove'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 Elm Grove's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$468,00017th percentilemore affordable than 17% 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
Elm Grove's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.5×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#9,003 of 15,516
More affordable than 42% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#7,265 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 3.5×, Elm Grove sits in the moderate band:
national rank #9,003 of 15,516 and #7,265 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
$133,304Elm Grove, WI median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Elm Grove, 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 Elm Grove, WI.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)67.0%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)3.4%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)62.0%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
6,428
Median Income
$133,304
Median Home Value
$468,000
Median Age
44.6
Poverty Rate
3.4%
Labor force participation
62.0%
Bachelor's Degree+
67.0%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
495.9
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
0.0
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
495.9
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
2
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Elm Grove's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
6,560 residents
2021
6,536 residents
2022
6,388 residents
2023
6,399 residents
2024
6,394 residents
2025
6,354 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
🏗️ Slowing
Total Permits (2024)
4
housing units authorized
Single-Family
4
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
0.6
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
5
5
0
$2.0M
2020
3
3
0
$2.5M
2021
3
3
0
$2.1M
2022
0
0
0
-
2023
1
1
0
$0.3M
2024
4
4
0
$4.7M
Permit volume decreased 20% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
71.0%
Carpool
3.5%
Public Transit
1.0%
Walk
0.9%
Work from Home
22.3%
Other
1.3%
Based on 2,973 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 Elm Grove. 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 Elm Grove 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 Elm Grove sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Elm Grove 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.