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Place dossier plate
SheetWI-PULASKI-WI · Pulaski, WI 3,892 pop · income 45th 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 Pulaski
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Pulaski on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Carrollton · lowest
58,788
Carrollton · lowest
58,788 median HH income
38.8% of the leader · rank #1
Laurel · near
66,382
Laurel · near
66,382 median HH income
43.8% of the leader · rank #2
Pulaski · this city
66,399
Pulaski · this city
66,399 median HH income
43.8% of the leader · rank #3
Newell · near
66,406
Newell · near
66,406 median HH income
43.8% of the leader · rank #4
Sunfield · near
66,406
Sunfield · near
66,406 median HH income
43.8% of the leader · rank #5
Prosser · near
66,406
Prosser · near
66,406 median HH income
43.8% of the leader · rank #6
Great Notch · highest
151,705
Great Notch · highest
151,705 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 Pulaski 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: 3,892.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Pulaski - the verdict
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Pulaski places in the 45th percentile for household income and the 86th percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
45th
percentile, household income
51st
percentile, home value
29th
percentile, median rent
86th
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: Pulaski, WI
Wisconsin's Pulaski is a small town, with 3,892 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Pulaski households earn a median of $66,399 annually, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 9.1%. Pulaski's housing stock carries a median value of $228,700, and the median resident age is 29.4 years. 21.5% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 66.4% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 33 residential building permits were authorized in Pulaski (Stable), up 3% from five years earlier, per Census BPS data. Pulaski reports a comparatively low crime rate: FBI UCR reporting places total crime at 486.9 incidents per 100,000 residents, below 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). Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $1,097 monthly. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts Wisconsin's average monthly utility costs around $225 (state average). 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 Pulaski'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 population change to reported crime to housing and income to schools and households to work and mobility to comparison shortlist; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Pulaski, city-specific coverage includes local building permits, annual population history, FBI reported-crime rates, matched public-school count, commute-mode shares.
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. Population change
Is Pulaski 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 +172 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +4.4% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 33 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Pulaski?
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 486.9 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 79% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
How far does income reach against housing in Pulaski?
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.4 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 9.1%, 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Pulaski?
Within Wisconsin, the closest population matches are Lancaster (3,916 residents, $80,625 income); Kiel (3,919 residents, $73,914 income); Raymond (3,928 residents, $106,696 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Pinch, WV (3,893 residents); Carrollton, KY (3,894 residents); Parkesburg, PA (3,894 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.
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 Pulaski?
The NCES join finds 3 public schools within the city match. 21.5% 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.
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.
Matched public schools
3
Bachelor's degree+
21.5%
Poverty estimate
9.1%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
What does the journey to work look like in Pulaski?
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 82.5%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Public transit
0.1%
Work from home
10.5%
Drive alone
82.5%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 1,628 workers age 16+.
Below median income · poverty 9.1% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
94.1 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Wisconsin average
C
City profile score · Pulaski, WI
57/100
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+
24 /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 D
$66,399
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate D
9.1%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share F
21.5%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Pulaski profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Violent crime: 91/100 (A+) · 24 /100k
Cost of living: 68/100 (B-) · 94.1 index
Household income: 44/100 (D) · $66,399
Poverty rate: 43/100 (D) · 9.1%
Bachelor's+ share: 39/100 (F) · 21.5%
Where Pulaski sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Pulaski'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 - Pulaski highlighted among 8 peers.Read the chart values
Pulaski, WI (this city): home $228,700, crime 487/100k
Carrollton, KY : home $122,400, crime 535/100k
Parkesburg, PA : home $280,000, crime 154/100k
Swansboro, NC : home $356,900, crime 1,919/100k
Lancaster, WI : home $173,300, crime 1,414/100k
Kiel, WI : home $172,300, crime 303/100k
North Hudson, WI : home $372,900, crime 332/100k
Chilton, WI : home $160,100, crime 488/100k
How does Pulaski compare to other US cities?
Where Pulaski sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income45% higher than other cities
Home value51% pricier than other cities
Median rent29% pricier than other cities
Safety86% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
A national percentile can hide a lot of local variation: narrowed to Wisconsin alone, Pulaski ranks #46 of 202 Wisconsin cities by lowest crime rate - a different, more locally useful comparison than stacking it against the entire country.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Pulaski 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 Pulaski near the bottom of Wisconsin's cities
Among the 761 Wisconsin cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Pulaski ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Pulaski only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#404 of 753
46th percentile in Wisconsin
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 761
0th percentile in Wisconsin
Median Home Value
#232 of 754
69th percentile in Wisconsin
Poverty Rate
#209 of 761
72nd percentile in Wisconsin
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#379 of 761
50th 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
45th percentile nationally for median household income · 86th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Pulaski's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Pulaski'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 Pulaski's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$228,70049th percentilemore affordable than 49% 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
Pulaski's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.4×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#8,756 of 15,516
More affordable than 44% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#7,092 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 3.4×, Pulaski sits in the moderate band:
national rank #8,756 of 15,516 and #7,092 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
$66,399Pulaski, WI median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Pulaski, 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 Pulaski, WI.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)21.5%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)9.1%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)66.4%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
3,892
Median Income
$66,399
Median Home Value
$228,700
Median Age
29.4
Poverty Rate
9.1%
Labor force participation
66.4%
Bachelor's Degree+
21.5%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
486.9
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
24.3
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
462.5
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
3
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Pulaski's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
3,876 residents
2021
3,951 residents
2022
3,960 residents
2023
3,972 residents
2024
3,999 residents
2025
4,048 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
🏗️ Stable
Total Permits (2024)
33
housing units authorized
Single-Family
17
detached homes
Multifamily
16
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
8.5
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
32
14
18
$4.2M
2020
41
22
19
$6.7M
2021
57
31
26
$10.6M
2022
8
8
0
$2.7M
2023
12
10
2
$3.2M
2024
33
17
16
$4.7M
Permit volume increased 3% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
82.5%
Carpool
3.3%
Public Transit
0.1%
Walk
0.9%
Work from Home
10.5%
Other
2.7%
Based on 1,628 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 Pulaski. 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 Pulaski 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 Pulaski sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Pulaski 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.