Side-by-side metrics and state or size-class ranks use the same Census and FBI fields shown on this profile. Results stay in the URL so you can bookmark or share them.
Place dossier plate
SheetWI-WEST-BEND-WI · West Bend, WI 31,722 pop · income 56th pct · 30 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 West Bend
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest West Bend on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Dania Beach · lowest
50,948
Dania Beach · lowest
50,948 median HH income
31.0% of the leader · rank #1
Carter Lake · near
75,037
Carter Lake · near
75,037 median HH income
45.7% of the leader · rank #2
High Ridge · near
75,040
High Ridge · near
75,040 median HH income
45.7% of the leader · rank #3
West Bend · this city
75,043
West Bend · this city
75,043 median HH income
45.7% of the leader · rank #4
Rangely · near
75,044
Rangely · near
75,044 median HH income
45.7% of the leader · rank #5
Newfane · near
75,049
Newfane · near
75,049 median HH income
45.7% of the leader · rank #6
Bethany · highest
164,315
Bethany · highest
164,315 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 West Bend 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: 31,722.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
West Bend - the verdict
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, West Bend places in the 56th percentile for household income and the 49th percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
56th
percentile, household income
55th
percentile, home value
29th
percentile, median rent
49th
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: West Bend, WI
West Bend is a small city in Wisconsin, home to 31,722 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Households in West Bend report a median income of $75,043 per year, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 4.8%. Typical homes in West Bend are valued around $244,500, and the median resident age is 39.9 years. 29.4% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 66.9% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 125 residential units authorized here in 2024 (Construction Slowdown), down 36% from five years earlier. West Bend reports a comparatively low crime rate: FBI UCR figures show 1408.6 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 puts West Bend's yearly average temperature at 46.3°F with 33.3 inches of precipitation per year.
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. Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $1,097 monthly. Monthly utility costs average around $225 across Wisconsin, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. Workers in West Bend report an average commute of 23.5 minutes, with 81.4% driving alone and 8.0% working from home. FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 59.1 out of 100 (Moderate).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of West Bend'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 work and mobility to schools and households to comparison shortlist to reported crime to within-city variation to population change; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For West Bend, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, within-city Census tract profiles, matched public-school count, FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits, commute-mode shares.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
Question 1
What physical conditions frame life in West Bend?
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 46.3°F, with 33.3 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.
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.
How far does income reach against housing in West Bend?
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 4.8%, 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 West Bend?
Within Wisconsin, the closest population matches are Fitchburg (31,566 residents, $85,420 income); Manitowoc (34,553 residents, $62,133 income); Mount Pleasant (27,694 residents, $90,189 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Lake Magdalene, FL (31,733 residents); Dania Beach, FL (31,739 residents); Bethany, OR (31,700 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.
What can 30 Census tracts reveal inside West Bend?
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 30 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 West Bend?
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 81.4%. The reported mean trip to work is 23.5 minutes.
Public transit
0.4%
Work from home
8.0%
Drive alone
81.4%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 17,070 workers age 16+.
What does the education layer cover for West Bend?
The NCES join finds 11 public schools within the city match. 29.4% 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.
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
11
Bachelor's degree+
29.4%
Poverty estimate
4.8%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
What can the FBI record say about safety in West Bend?
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 1408.6 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 38% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Property rate
1170.7
Violent rate
237.9
Total reported rate
1408.6
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
Is West Bend 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 +538 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +1.7% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 125 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
+1.7%
2025 estimate
32,268
2020 estimate
31,730
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
Above median income · poverty 4.8% (Below-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
94.1 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Wisconsin average
C
City profile score · West Bend, WI
58/100
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 B-
4.8%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share C
29.4%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income C
$75,043
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Violent crime D
238 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
West Bend profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 68/100 (B-) · 94.1 index
Poverty rate: 67/100 (B-) · 4.8%
Bachelor's+ share: 57/100 (C) · 29.4%
Household income: 55/100 (C) · $75,043
Violent crime: 42/100 (D) · 238 /100k
Where West Bend sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
West Bend'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 - West Bend highlighted among 10 peers.Read the chart values
West Bend, WI (this city): home $244,500, crime 1,409/100k
San Pablo, CA : home $516,000, crime 3,135/100k
Poughkeepsie, NY : home $259,200, crime 2,280/100k
Bangor, ME : home $206,300, crime 4,399/100k
Fitchburg, WI : home $389,400, crime 1,616/100k
Manitowoc, WI : home $143,900, crime 1,178/100k
Mount Pleasant, WI : home $269,900, crime 1,846/100k
Franklin, WI : home $343,400, crime 1,258/100k
Neenah, WI : home $194,700, crime 1,299/100k
Sun Prairie, WI : home $339,800, crime 1,594/100k
How does West Bend compare to other US cities?
Here's how West Bend stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income56% higher than other cities
Home value55% pricier than other cities
Median rent29% pricier than other cities
Safety49% 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, West Bend ranks #140 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 West Bend 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 West Bend near the bottom of Wisconsin's cities
Among the 761 Wisconsin cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, West Bend ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares West Bend only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#289 of 753
62nd percentile in Wisconsin
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 761
0th percentile in Wisconsin
Median Home Value
#195 of 754
74th percentile in Wisconsin
Poverty Rate
#412 of 761
45th percentile in Wisconsin
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#214 of 761
72nd 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
56th percentile nationally for median household income · 49th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
West Bend's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
West Bend'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 West Bend's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$244,50045th percentilemore affordable than 45% 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
West Bend'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
#7,939 of 15,516
More affordable than 49% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#1,244 of 3,317
Small cities (10,000–49,999)
At 3.3×, West Bend sits in the moderate band:
national rank #7,939 of 15,516 and #1,244 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
$75,043West Bend, WI median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context West Bend, 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 West Bend, WI.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)29.4%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)4.8%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)66.9%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
31,722
Median Income
$75,043
Median Home Value
$244,500
Median Age
39.9
Poverty Rate
4.8%
Labor force participation
66.9%
Bachelor's Degree+
29.4%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
1408.6
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
237.9
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
1170.7
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
46.3°F
Annual Precipitation
33.3"
Annual Snowfall
N/A
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
West Bend's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
31,730 residents
2021
31,845 residents
2022
32,236 residents
2023
32,215 residents
2024
32,124 residents
2025
32,268 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📉 Construction Slowdown
Total Permits (2024)
125
housing units authorized
Single-Family
14
detached homes
Multifamily
111
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
3.9
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2022
194
11
183
$37.9M
2023
10
6
4
$2.4M
2024
125
14
111
$24.5M
Permit volume decreased 36% from 2022 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
23.5 minutes
Drive Alone
81.4%
Carpool
6.9%
Public Transit
0.4%
Walk
1.7%
Work from Home
8.0%
Other
1.6%
Based on 17,070 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 West Bend. 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 West Bend 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 West Bend sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How West Bend 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.