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Place dossier plate
SheetWI-PRAIRIE-DU-CHIEN-WI · Prairie du Chien, WI 5,471 pop · income 24th 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 Prairie du Chien
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Prairie du Chien on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Howard City · lowest
52,663
Howard City · lowest
52,663 median HH income
53.4% of the leader · rank #1
Trommald · near
52,667
Trommald · near
52,667 median HH income
53.4% of the leader · rank #2
Mount Carmel · near
52,667
Mount Carmel · near
52,667 median HH income
53.4% of the leader · rank #3
Prairie du Ch… · this city
52,670
Prairie du Ch… · this city
52,670 median HH income
53.4% of the leader · rank #4
Roanoke · near
52,671
Roanoke · near
52,671 median HH income
53.4% of the leader · rank #5
Calipatria · near
52,672
Calipatria · near
52,672 median HH income
53.4% of the leader · rank #6
St. Paul Park · highest
98,670
St. Paul Park · highest
98,670 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
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Prairie du Chien on ACS population and median household income
. 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: 5,471.
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Prairie du Chien places in the 24th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
24th
percentile, household income
27th
percentile, home value
29th
percentile, median rent
📝 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: Prairie du Chien, WI
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 5,471 residents in Prairie du Chien, a small town within Wisconsin. The typical household in Prairie du Chien brings in $52,670 a year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 8.2%. Typical homes in Prairie du Chien are valued around $152,100, and the median resident age is 45.7 years. About 16.5% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 49.9% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 2 residential building permits were authorized in Prairie du Chien (Construction Slowdown), down 33% from five years earlier, per Census BPS data. The annual average temperature per NOAA climate normals runs 47.7°F with 37.7 inches of precipitation per year and 33.8 inches of snowfall.
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. HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $1,097 per month. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Wisconsin run around $225, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. 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 Prairie du Chien'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 within-city variation to climate and hazard context to housing and income to population change; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Prairie du Chien, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, local building permits, annual population history, within-city Census tract profiles, matched public-school count.
No matched row is reported here for FBI reported-crime rates; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Comparison shortlist
Which cities make useful reference points for Prairie du Chien?
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.
Within Wisconsin, the closest population matches are Columbus (5,493 residents, $74,957 income); Berlin (5,523 residents, $55,216 income); Rothschild (5,532 residents, $87,250 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Spirit Lake, IA (5,469 residents); Pawcatuck, CT (5,475 residents); Floral, FL (5,467 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 Prairie du Chien?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 75.7%. 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.
What does the education layer cover for Prairie du Chien?
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 6 public schools within the city match. 16.5% 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 6 Census tracts reveal inside Prairie du Chien?
PlainCities matches 6 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.
Climate and hazard context
What physical conditions frame life in Prairie du Chien?
The two sources should not be blended into one comfort or safety score. Use the climate values for baseline conditions and the risk index as a prompt to inspect specific hazards, insurance, and local emergency guidance for a particular address.
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 47.7°F, with 37.7 inches of precipitation and 33.8 inches of annual snowfall. FEMA's state-averaged National Risk Index score for Wisconsin is 59.1 out of 100. Climate normals describe long-run weather; the FEMA score on PlainCities is a state average of county NRI inputs and combines hazards, exposure, vulnerability, and resilience.
FEMA risk index (state avg)
59.1
Annual precipitation
37.7 in
Mean temperature
47.7°F
NOAA Climate Normals and FEMA National Risk Index (state-averaged on PlainCities). Hazard context is not address-level.
How far does income reach against housing in Prairie du Chien?
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 2.9 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 8.2%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Value / income
2.9×
Home value
$152,100
Household income
$52,670
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Is Prairie du Chien growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -112 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -2.0% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 2 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
5,520
2025 estimate
5,408
Period change
-2.0%
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Wisconsin average
D
City profile score · Prairie du Chien, WI
41/100
4 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.
Poverty rate D
8.2%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$52,670
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
16.5%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Prairie du Chien profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 68/100 (B-) · 94.1 index
Poverty rate: 47/100 (D) · 8.2%
Household income: 24/100 (F) · $52,670
Bachelor's+ share: 24/100 (F) · 16.5%
How does Prairie du Chien compare to other US cities?
Here's how Prairie du Chien stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income24% higher than other cities
Home value27% pricier than other cities
Median rent29% pricier than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Prairie du Chien 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 Prairie du Chien near the bottom of Wisconsin's cities
Among the 761 Wisconsin cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Prairie du Chien ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Prairie du Chien only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#629 of 753
16th percentile in Wisconsin
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 761
0th percentile in Wisconsin
Median Home Value
#501 of 754
33rd percentile in Wisconsin
Poverty Rate
#238 of 761
68th percentile in Wisconsin
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#491 of 761
35th 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
24th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Prairie du Chien's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$152,100Among the most affordablemore affordable than 73% 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
Prairie du Chien's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.9×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#6,043 of 15,516
More affordable than 61% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#5,196 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.9×, Prairie du Chien sits in the affordable band:
national rank #6,043 of 15,516 and #5,196 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
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
$52,670Prairie du Chien, WI median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Prairie du Chien, 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 Prairie du Chien, WI.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)16.5%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)8.2%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)49.9%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
5,471
Median Income
$52,670
Median Home Value
$152,100
Median Age
45.7
Poverty Rate
8.2%
Labor force participation
49.9%
Bachelor's Degree+
16.5%
Climate
Avg Temperature
47.7°F
Annual Precipitation
37.7"
Annual Snowfall
33.8"
Schools
Total Schools
6
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Prairie du Chien's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
5,520 residents
2021
5,493 residents
2022
5,496 residents
2023
5,472 residents
2024
5,439 residents
2025
5,408 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📉 Construction Slowdown
Total Permits (2024)
2
housing units authorized
Single-Family
2
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
0.4
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
3
3
0
$0.7M
2020
0
0
0
-
2021
2
2
0
$0.4M
2022
5
5
0
$1.2M
2023
1
1
0
$0.3M
2024
2
2
0
$0.8M
Permit volume decreased 33% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
75.7%
Carpool
15.0%
Public Transit
1.6%
Walk
3.8%
Work from Home
3.1%
Other
0.8%
Based on 2,294 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 Prairie du Chien. 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 Prairie du Chien 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 Prairie du Chien sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Prairie du Chien 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, NOAA Climate Normals, 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.