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Place dossier plate
SheetWI-SHEBOYGAN-WI · Sheboygan, WI 49,812 pop · income 40th pct · 29 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 Sheboygan
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Sheboygan on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
La Crosse · lowest
53,803
La Crosse · lowest
53,803 median HH income
40.3% of the leader · rank #1
Athol · near
62,946
Athol · near
62,946 median HH income
47.2% of the leader · rank #2
Gardner · near
62,948
Gardner · near
62,948 median HH income
47.2% of the leader · rank #3
Creston · near
62,950
Creston · near
62,950 median HH income
47.2% of the leader · rank #4
Sheboygan · this city
62,953
Sheboygan · this city
62,953 median HH income
47.2% of the leader · rank #5
Alburgh · near
62,955
Alburgh · near
62,955 median HH income
47.2% of the leader · rank #6
Chesterfield · highest
133,380
Chesterfield · highest
133,380 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 Sheboygan 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: 49,812.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Sheboygan - the verdict
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Sheboygan places in the 40th percentile for household income and the 39th percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
40th
percentile, household income
32nd
percentile, home value
29th
percentile, median rent
39th
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: Sheboygan, WI
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 49,812 residents in Sheboygan, a small city within Wisconsin. Households in Sheboygan report a median income of $62,953 per year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 8.4%. Typical homes in Sheboygan are valued around $165,200, and the median resident age is 36.8 years. Educational attainment runs 23.4% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 65.8% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 64 residential units authorized here in 2024 (Building Boom), up 113% from five years earlier. Sheboygan reports a comparatively low crime rate: FBI UCR figures show 1715.4 crimes per 100,000 residents, below the national average (reporting is voluntary across agencies, so treat this as reporting activity rather than a definitive danger score). NOAA climate normals record an annual average temperature of 47.6°F with 34.7 inches of precipitation per year.
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. Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $1,097 monthly. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Wisconsin run around $225, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. Workers in Sheboygan report an average commute of 15.6 minutes, with 77.2% driving alone and 7.5% 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 Sheboygan'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 climate and hazard context to housing and income to comparison shortlist to population change to schools and households to work and mobility to within-city variation to reported crime; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Sheboygan, city-specific coverage includes FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits, annual population history, commute-mode shares, matched public-school count, within-city Census tract profiles.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
1. Climate and hazard context
What physical conditions frame life in Sheboygan?
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 47.6°F, with 34.7 inches of precipitation. 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.
How far does income reach against housing in Sheboygan?
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 2.6 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 8.4%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Which cities make useful reference points for Sheboygan?
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 La Crosse (51,791 residents, $53,803 income); Wauwatosa (47,718 residents, $93,859 income); Fond du Lac (44,491 residents, $61,620 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Downers Grove, IL (49,867 residents); Murray, UT (49,904 residents); Rockwall, TX (49,605 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 can 29 Census tracts reveal inside Sheboygan?
PlainCities matches 29 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.
Population change
Is Sheboygan growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -570 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -1.1% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 64 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
49,946
2025 estimate
49,376
Period change
-1.1%
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
What does the education layer cover for Sheboygan?
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 24 public schools within the city match. 23.4% 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
8.4%
Bachelor's degree+
23.4%
Matched public schools
24
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
What does the journey to work look like in Sheboygan?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 77.2%. The reported mean trip to work is 15.6 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.
Drive alone
77.2%
Work from home
7.5%
Public transit
0.5%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 25,367 workers age 16+.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Sheboygan?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 1715.4 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 25% 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
1715.4
Violent rate
427.3
Property rate
1288.0
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
Below median income · poverty 8.4% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
94.1 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Wisconsin average
D
City profile score · Sheboygan, WI
43/100
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.
Poverty rate D
8.4%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share D
23.4%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income F
$62,953
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Violent crime F
427 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Sheboygan profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 68/100 (B-) · 94.1 index
Poverty rate: 46/100 (D) · 8.4%
Bachelor's+ share: 44/100 (D) · 23.4%
Household income: 39/100 (F) · $62,953
Violent crime: 20/100 (F) · 427 /100k
Where Sheboygan sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Sheboygan'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 - Sheboygan highlighted among 12 peers.Read the chart values
Sheboygan, WI (this city): home $165,200, crime 1,715/100k
Downers Grove, IL : home $439,000, crime 985/100k
Murray, UT : home $470,200, crime 3,597/100k
Rockwall, TX : home $382,400, crime 1,519/100k
Chesterfield, MO : home $458,000, crime 1,382/100k
St. Louis Park, MN : home $371,600, crime 3,507/100k
La Crosse, WI : home $196,600, crime 4,103/100k
Wauwatosa, WI : home $307,600, crime 2,689/100k
Fond du Lac, WI : home $161,300, crime 2,491/100k
Brookfield, WI : home $419,300, crime 1,180/100k
New Berlin, WI : home $343,500, crime 1,055/100k
West Allis, WI : home $191,700, crime 2,234/100k
How does Sheboygan compare to other US cities?
Sheboygan measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income40% higher than other cities
Home value32% pricier than other cities
Median rent29% pricier than other cities
Safety39% 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: Sheboygan ranks #158 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 Sheboygan 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 Sheboygan near the bottom of Wisconsin's cities
Among the 761 Wisconsin cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Sheboygan ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Sheboygan only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#465 of 753
38th percentile in Wisconsin
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 761
0th percentile in Wisconsin
Median Home Value
#434 of 754
42nd percentile in Wisconsin
Poverty Rate
#232 of 761
69th percentile in Wisconsin
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#347 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
40th percentile nationally for median household income · 39th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Sheboygan's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Sheboygan'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 Sheboygan's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$165,200Among the most affordablemore affordable than 68% 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
Sheboygan's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.6×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#4,642 of 15,516
More affordable than 70% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#471 of 3,317
Small cities (10,000–49,999)
At 2.6×, Sheboygan sits in the affordable band:
national rank #4,642 of 15,516 and #471 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
$62,953Sheboygan, WI median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Sheboygan, 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 Sheboygan, WI.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)23.4%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)8.4%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)65.8%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
49,812
Median Income
$62,953
Median Home Value
$165,200
Median Age
36.8
Poverty Rate
8.4%
Labor force participation
65.8%
Bachelor's Degree+
23.4%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
1715.4
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
427.3
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
1288.0
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.
Climate
Avg Temperature
47.6°F
Annual Precipitation
34.7"
Annual Snowfall
N/A
Schools
Total Schools
24
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Sheboygan's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
49,946 residents
2021
49,589 residents
2022
49,461 residents
2023
49,556 residents
2024
49,503 residents
2025
49,376 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Building Boom
Total Permits (2024)
64
housing units authorized
Single-Family
18
detached homes
Multifamily
46
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
1.3
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
30
9
21
$5.9M
2020
195
3
192
$21.4M
2021
91
7
84
$9.3M
2022
10
8
2
$2.9M
2023
160
29
131
$27.0M
2024
64
18
46
$13.9M
Permit volume increased 113% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
15.6 minutes
Drive Alone
77.2%
Carpool
10.2%
Public Transit
0.5%
Walk
1.7%
Work from Home
7.5%
Other
2.9%
Based on 25,367 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 Sheboygan. 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 Sheboygan 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 Sheboygan sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Sheboygan 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, 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.