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Place dossier plate
SheetWI-OAK-CREEK-WI · Oak Creek, WI 36,473 pop · income 73rd 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 Oak Creek
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Oak Creek on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Kiryas Joel · lowest
43,171
Kiryas Joel · lowest
43,171 median HH income
25.3% of the leader · rank #1
Terre du Lac · near
93,115
Terre du Lac · near
93,115 median HH income
54.7% of the leader · rank #2
Oak Creek · this city
93,120
Oak Creek · this city
93,120 median HH income
54.7% of the leader · rank #3
Prince's Lakes · near
93,125
Prince's Lakes · near
93,125 median HH income
54.7% of the leader · rank #4
San Lorenzo · near
93,125
San Lorenzo · near
93,125 median HH income
54.7% of the leader · rank #5
Minoa · near
93,125
Minoa · near
93,125 median HH income
54.7% of the leader · rank #6
Commack · highest
170,375
Commack · highest
170,375 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 Oak Creek 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: 36,473.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Oak Creek - the verdict
Oak Creek ranks in the 73rd percentile for household income and the 36th percentile for safety nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
73rd
percentile, household income
66th
percentile, home value
29th
percentile, median rent
36th
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: Oak Creek, WI
Oak Creek is a small city in Wisconsin, home to 36,473 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. The typical household in Oak Creek brings in $93,120 a year, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 2.4%. Home values in Oak Creek run a median of $305,100, and the median resident age is 38.9 years. 38.4% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 71.0% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 8 residential building permits were authorized in Oak Creek (Construction Slowdown), down 83% from five years earlier, per Census BPS data. Crime here tracks close to the national norm: FBI UCR reporting places total crime at 1831.9 incidents per 100,000 residents, near the national average (voluntary agency reporting, reflects 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. 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 Oak Creek'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 population change to reported crime to schools and households to comparison shortlist; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Oak Creek, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, local building permits, FBI reported-crime rates, annual population history, matched public-school count.
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.
Question 1
What does the journey to work look like in Oak Creek?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 78.2%. 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. 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 Oak Creek?
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 3.3 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 2.4%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Is Oak Creek growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +1,623 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +4.4% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 8 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Oak Creek?
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 Sun Prairie (36,455 residents, $90,521 income); Beloit (36,554 residents, $59,975 income); Franklin (35,751 residents, $108,342 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Elmont, NY (36,436 residents); Claremont, CA (36,553 residents); Hilliard, OH (36,560 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.
Reported crime
What can the FBI record say about safety in Oak Creek?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 1831.9 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 20% 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
1831.9
Violent rate
146.0
Property rate
1685.9
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
What does the education layer cover for Oak Creek?
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 11 public schools within the city match. 38.4% 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
2.4%
Bachelor's degree+
38.4%
Matched public schools
11
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Wisconsin average
B
City profile score · Oak Creek, WI
71/100
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 A-
2.4%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income B
$93,120
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share B
38.4%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
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.
Oak Creek profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Poverty rate: 83/100 (A-) · 2.4%
Household income: 72/100 (B) · $93,120
Bachelor's+ share: 72/100 (B) · 38.4%
Cost of living: 68/100 (B-) · 94.1 index
Violent crime: 59/100 (C) · 146 /100k
Where Oak Creek sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Oak Creek'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 - Oak Creek highlighted among 10 peers.Read the chart values
Oak Creek, WI (this city): home $305,100, crime 1,832/100k
Claremont, CA : home $870,800, crime 2,419/100k
Hilliard, OH : home $360,000, crime 1,051/100k
Manchester, CT : home $205,800, crime 2,248/100k
Sun Prairie, WI : home $339,800, crime 1,594/100k
Beloit, WI : home $133,500, crime 2,606/100k
Franklin, WI : home $343,400, crime 1,258/100k
Greenfield, WI : home $247,800, crime 2,400/100k
Manitowoc, WI : home $143,900, crime 1,178/100k
Menomonee Falls, WI : home $341,600, crime 596/100k
How does Oak Creek compare to other US cities?
Oak Creek measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income73% higher than other cities
Home value66% pricier than other cities
Median rent29% pricier than other cities
Safety36% 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: Oak Creek ranks #166 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 Oak Creek 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 Oak Creek near the bottom of Wisconsin's cities
Among the 761 Wisconsin cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Oak Creek ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Oak Creek only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#116 of 753
85th percentile in Wisconsin
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 761
0th percentile in Wisconsin
Median Home Value
#102 of 754
86th percentile in Wisconsin
Poverty Rate
#557 of 761
26th percentile in Wisconsin
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#117 of 761
84th 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
73rd percentile nationally for median household income · 36th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Oak Creek's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Oak Creek'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 Oak Creek's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$305,10034th percentilemore affordable than 34% 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
Oak Creek's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.3×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#8,007 of 15,516
More affordable than 48% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#1,263 of 3,317
Small cities (10,000–49,999)
At 3.3×, Oak Creek sits in the moderate band:
national rank #8,007 of 15,516 and #1,263 of 3,317small cities (10,000–49,999).
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
$93,120Oak Creek, WI median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Oak Creek, 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 Oak Creek, WI.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)38.4%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)2.4%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)71.0%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
36,473
Median Income
$93,120
Median Home Value
$305,100
Median Age
38.9
Poverty Rate
2.4%
Labor force participation
71.0%
Bachelor's Degree+
38.4%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
1831.9
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
146.0
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
1685.9
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
11
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Oak Creek's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
36,673 residents
2021
36,408 residents
2022
37,399 residents
2023
37,788 residents
2024
38,332 residents
2025
38,296 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📉 Construction Slowdown
Total Permits (2024)
8
housing units authorized
Single-Family
8
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
0.2
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
47
47
0
$15.2M
2020
87
87
0
$22.9M
2021
31
21
10
$11.0M
2022
543
62
481
$124.4M
2023
240
38
202
$58.4M
2024
8
8
0
$4.2M
Permit volume decreased 83% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
78.2%
Carpool
8.1%
Public Transit
0.2%
Walk
0.9%
Work from Home
11.4%
Other
1.2%
Based on 20,548 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 Oak Creek. 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 Oak Creek 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 Oak Creek sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Oak Creek 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.