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Place dossier plate
SheetWI-KAUKAUNA-WI · Kaukauna, WI 17,237 pop · income 60th pct · 11 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 Kaukauna
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Kaukauna on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Charleston · lowest
49,057
Charleston · lowest
49,057 median HH income
27.4% of the leader · rank #1
New Union · near
78,343
New Union · near
78,343 median HH income
43.8% of the leader · rank #2
Wimberley · near
78,351
Wimberley · near
78,351 median HH income
43.8% of the leader · rank #3
Kaukauna · this city
78,353
Kaukauna · this city
78,353 median HH income
43.8% of the leader · rank #4
Fruitland Park · near
78,359
Fruitland Park · near
78,359 median HH income
43.8% of the leader · rank #5
Worthington H… · near
78,365
Worthington H… · near
78,365 median HH income
43.8% of the leader · rank #6
Lake Butler · highest
178,750
Lake Butler · highest
178,750 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 Kaukauna 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: 17,237.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Kaukauna - the verdict
Kaukauna ranks in the 60th percentile for household income and the 73rd percentile for safety nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
60th
percentile, household income
43rd
percentile, home value
29th
percentile, median rent
73rd
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: Kaukauna, WI
17,237 people live in Kaukauna, Wisconsin - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Households in Kaukauna report a median income of $78,353 per year, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 7.5%. Kaukauna's housing stock carries a median value of $198,800, and the median resident age is 38.5 years. 27.1% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 69.8% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 85 residential building permits were authorized in Kaukauna (Building Boom), up 93% from five years earlier, per Census BPS data. Kaukauna reports a comparatively low crime rate: per-100,000 total crime stands at 783.1 in FBI UCR data, below the national average (a voluntary reporting program, read this as reporting activity, not 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. 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. The average commute for Kaukauna workers runs 19.0 minutes, with 81.8% driving alone and 7.3% working from home. On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 59.1 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (Moderate).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Kaukauna'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 housing and income to schools and households to work and mobility to reported crime 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 Kaukauna, city-specific coverage includes FBI reported-crime rates, matched public-school count, local building permits, commute-mode shares, within-city Census tract profiles, annual population history.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
Question 1
Which cities make useful reference points for Kaukauna?
Within Wisconsin, the closest population matches are Ashwaubenon (16,931 residents, $71,180 income); Beaver Dam (16,629 residents, $68,757 income); Menomonie (16,548 residents, $54,587 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Danville, KY (17,235 residents); Lake Butler, FL (17,242 residents); Fort Thomas, KY (17,242 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.
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.
How far does income reach against housing in Kaukauna?
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 2.5 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 7.5%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
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 NCES join finds 7 public schools within the city match. 27.1% 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.
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.
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.
PlainCities matches 11 Census tracts to this city.
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 Kaukauna?
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.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 81.8%. The reported mean trip to work is 19.0 minutes.
Public transit
0.5%
Work from home
7.3%
Drive alone
81.8%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 9,702 workers age 16+.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Kaukauna?
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.
The joined FBI UCR record reports 783.1 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 66% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Property rate
681.0
Violent rate
102.1
Total reported rate
783.1
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
Is Kaukauna growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
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.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +1,384 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +8.1% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 85 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Period change
+8.1%
2025 estimate
18,517
2020 estimate
17,133
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
Above median income · poverty 7.5% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
94.1 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Wisconsin average
C+
City profile score · Kaukauna, WI
60/100
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 B
102 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger 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.
Household income C
$78,353
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share C-
27.1%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate C-
7.5%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Kaukauna profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Violent crime: 70/100 (B) · 102 /100k
Cost of living: 68/100 (B-) · 94.1 index
Household income: 58/100 (C) · $78,353
Bachelor's+ share: 53/100 (C-) · 27.1%
Poverty rate: 50/100 (C-) · 7.5%
Where Kaukauna sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Kaukauna'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 - Kaukauna highlighted among 11 peers.Read the chart values
Kaukauna, WI (this city): home $198,800, crime 783/100k
Danville, KY : home $202,200, crime 1,155/100k
Fort Thomas, KY : home $301,400, crime 535/100k
Dallas, OR : home $355,700, crime 2,345/100k
Charleston, IL : home $133,700, crime 2,153/100k
Ashwaubenon, WI : home $245,100, crime 2,448/100k
Beaver Dam, WI : home $189,800, crime 1,269/100k
Menomonie, WI : home $203,800, crime 1,344/100k
Cudahy, WI : home $201,000, crime 888/100k
River Falls, WI : home $299,800, crime 990/100k
Menasha, WI : home $169,200, crime 1,061/100k
How does Kaukauna compare to other US cities?
Where Kaukauna sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income60% higher than other cities
Home value43% pricier than other cities
Median rent29% pricier than other cities
Safety73% 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: Kaukauna ranks #83 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 Kaukauna 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 Kaukauna near the bottom of Wisconsin's cities
Among the 761 Wisconsin cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Kaukauna ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Kaukauna only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#256 of 753
66th percentile in Wisconsin
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 761
0th percentile in Wisconsin
Median Home Value
#303 of 754
60th percentile in Wisconsin
Poverty Rate
#270 of 761
64th percentile in Wisconsin
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#261 of 761
65th 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
60th percentile nationally for median household income · 73rd percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Kaukauna's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Kaukauna'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 Kaukauna's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$198,800Among the most affordablemore affordable than 57% 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
Kaukauna's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.5×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#4,183 of 15,516
More affordable than 73% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#383 of 3,317
Small cities (10,000–49,999)
At 2.5×, Kaukauna sits in the affordable band:
national rank #4,183 of 15,516 and #383 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
$78,353Kaukauna, WI median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Kaukauna, 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 Kaukauna, WI.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)27.1%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)7.5%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)69.8%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
17,237
Median Income
$78,353
Median Home Value
$198,800
Median Age
38.5
Poverty Rate
7.5%
Labor force participation
69.8%
Bachelor's Degree+
27.1%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
783.1
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
102.1
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
681.0
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
7
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Kaukauna's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
17,133 residents
2021
17,247 residents
2022
17,658 residents
2023
18,127 residents
2024
18,324 residents
2025
18,517 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Building Boom
Total Permits (2024)
85
housing units authorized
Single-Family
81
detached homes
Multifamily
4
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
4.9
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
44
40
4
$9.3M
2020
97
83
14
$19.4M
2021
89
79
10
$20.2M
2022
65
55
10
$17.4M
2023
81
75
6
$23.7M
2024
85
81
4
$21.8M
Permit volume increased 93% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
19.0 minutes
Drive Alone
81.8%
Carpool
7.7%
Public Transit
0.5%
Walk
1.4%
Work from Home
7.3%
Other
1.3%
Based on 9,702 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 Kaukauna. 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 Kaukauna 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 Kaukauna sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Kaukauna 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.