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Place dossier plate
SheetWI-HAYWARD-WI · Hayward, WI 2,549 pop · income 8th pct · 6 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 Hayward
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Hayward on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Ingenio comun… · lowest
21,756
Ingenio comun… · lowest
21,756 median HH income
11.8% of the leader · rank #1
Hayward · this city
40,085
Hayward · this city
40,085 median HH income
21.8% of the leader · rank #2
Desert Edge · near
40,089
Desert Edge · near
40,089 median HH income
21.8% of the leader · rank #3
Jameson · near
40,089
Jameson · near
40,089 median HH income
21.8% of the leader · rank #4
Conway · near
40,089
Conway · near
40,089 median HH income
21.8% of the leader · rank #5
Meadow Bridge · near
40,089
Meadow Bridge · near
40,089 median HH income
21.8% of the leader · rank #6
Peapack and G… · highest
184,231
Peapack and G… · highest
184,231 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 Hayward 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: 2,549.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Hayward - the verdict
Nationally, Hayward sits in the 8th percentile for household income and the 24th percentile for safety among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
8th
percentile, household income
38th
percentile, home value
29th
percentile, median rent
24th
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: Hayward, WI
2,549 people live in Hayward, Wisconsin - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. The typical household in Hayward brings in $40,085 a year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 19.1%. Home values in Hayward run a median of $184,200, and the median resident age is 42.6 years. Educational attainment runs 23.3% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 54.8% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 29 residential building permits were authorized in Hayward (Rapid Growth), up 21% from five years earlier, per Census BPS data. Crime here tracks close to the national norm: FBI UCR figures show 2423.1 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: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts Wisconsin at 94.1 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Below Average). Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $1,097 monthly. Monthly utility costs average around $225 across Wisconsin, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. Workers in Hayward report an average commute of 11.6 minutes, with 78.9% driving alone and 6.3% working from home. 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 Hayward'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 work and mobility to housing and income to comparison shortlist to schools and households to within-city variation to reported crime to population change; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Hayward, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, matched public-school count, commute-mode shares, within-city Census tract profiles, FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
Question 1
What does the journey to work look like in Hayward?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 78.9%. The reported mean trip to work is 11.6 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.
How far does income reach against housing in Hayward?
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. Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median. That flags a question for comparison, not a verdict: tenure, household composition, financing costs, and the age of the ACS estimate can all change what a resident actually pays.
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 4.6 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 19.1%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Which cities make useful reference points for Hayward?
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 New Lisbon (2,549 residents, $64,000 income); Mineral Point (2,575 residents, $78,958 income); Winneconne (2,519 residents, $85,980 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Hermann, MO (2,550 residents); Rockville, IN (2,551 residents); Pagedale, MO (2,547 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.
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.
Schools and households
What does the education layer cover for Hayward?
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 7 public schools within the city match. 23.3% 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.
Poverty estimate
19.1%
Bachelor's degree+
23.3%
Matched public schools
7
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Hayward?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 2423.1 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, near the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 6% 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.
Total reported rate
2423.1
Violent rate
730.8
Property rate
1692.3
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +78 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +3.1% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 29 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.
2020 estimate
2,536
2025 estimate
2,614
Period change
+3.1%
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
Lowest-decile income · poverty 19.1% (High poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
94.1 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Wisconsin average
F
City profile score · Hayward, WI
26/100
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.
Bachelor's+ share D
23.3%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate F
19.1%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$40,085
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Violent crime F
731 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Hayward profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 68/100 (B-) · 94.1 index
Bachelor's+ share: 44/100 (D) · 23.3%
Poverty rate: 15/100 (F) · 19.1%
Household income: 7/100 (F) · $40,085
Violent crime: 4/100 (F) · 731 /100k
Where Hayward sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Hayward'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 - Hayward highlighted among 8 peers.Read the chart values
Hayward, WI (this city): home $184,200, crime 2,423/100k
Hermann, MO : home $175,100, crime 869/100k
Pagedale, MO : home $77,500, crime 5,420/100k
New Lisbon, WI : home $105,500, crime 515/100k
Mineral Point, WI : home $213,000, crime 704/100k
Winneconne, WI : home $196,900, crime 281/100k
Poynette, WI : home $260,900, crime 275/100k
Juneau, WI : home $175,200, crime 160/100k
How does Hayward compare to other US cities?
Hayward measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income8% higher than other cities
Home value38% pricier than other cities
Median rent29% pricier than other cities
Safety24% 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: Hayward ranks #184 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 Hayward 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 Hayward near the bottom of Wisconsin's cities
Among the 761 Wisconsin cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Hayward ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Hayward only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#723 of 753
4th percentile in Wisconsin
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 761
0th percentile in Wisconsin
Median Home Value
#360 of 754
52nd percentile in Wisconsin
Poverty Rate
#49 of 761
93rd percentile in Wisconsin
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#348 of 761
54th 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
8th percentile nationally for median household income · 24th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Hayward's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Hayward'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 Hayward's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$184,200Among the most affordablemore affordable than 62% 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
Hayward's home-value-to-income ratio: 4.6×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#12,175 of 15,516
More affordable than 22% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#9,299 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 4.6×, Hayward sits in the moderate band:
national rank #12,175 of 15,516 and #9,299 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
$40,085Hayward, WI median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Hayward, 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 Hayward, WI.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)23.3%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)19.1%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)54.8%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
2,549
Median Income
$40,085
Median Home Value
$184,200
Median Age
42.6
Poverty Rate
19.1%
Labor force participation
54.8%
Bachelor's Degree+
23.3%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
2423.1
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
730.8
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
1692.3
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
7
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Hayward's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
2,536 residents
2021
2,526 residents
2022
2,579 residents
2023
2,577 residents
2024
2,590 residents
2025
2,614 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Rapid Growth
Total Permits (2024)
29
housing units authorized
Single-Family
9
detached homes
Multifamily
20
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
11.4
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
24
8
16
$2.2M
2020
10
10
0
$1.2M
2021
3
3
0
$0.7M
2022
20
20
0
$2.5M
2023
10
10
0
$1.4M
2024
29
9
20
$3.3M
Permit volume increased 21% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
11.6 minutes
Drive Alone
78.9%
Carpool
8.5%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
3.5%
Work from Home
6.3%
Other
2.8%
Based on 1,125 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 Hayward. 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 Hayward 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 Hayward sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Hayward 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.