Galesburg, Illinois

Area Profile

29,481 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Galesburg, in Knox County.

50out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 20% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
Opportunity3,396th of 4,199 cities measured41
Schools2,795th of 4,162 cities measured37
Growth3,479th of 4,224 cities measured33
Housing affordabilityTop 43% of 4,218 cities measured69
Climate3,761st of 4,225 cities measured59
Physical resilienceTop 49% of 4,226 cities measured59
Access3,162nd of 4,226 cities measured83
Economic stability3,973rd of 4,226 cities measured26
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable cities measured: unemployment is 4.9% and the Opportunity signal places Galesburg in the bottom 19%.

In the public schools here, 23% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 14.3 students for every teacher.

Rent takes 32% of renter income here, above the 30% threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, and the median home is 1.6 times what its owners earn.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
29,481
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$48,297
Bottom 20% nationally
Density
1,659/sq mi
17.8 sq mi of land
Median age
40.8
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Illinois
Micro area
Nearest major airport
MLI
35 mi · Quad Cities Intl
Median home value
$96,400
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.9% — higher than in all but 29% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment grew 1.3% over the past year, to 11,085 employed residents.

Median household income of $48,297 is lower than in 80% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsKnox County, IL’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$51,90810th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftKnox County, IL’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$49,6256th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$3,5392024 ACS 5-Year$48,297Bottom 20%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,5362024 ACS 5-Year$27,222Bottom 27%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year18.2%Bottom 26%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.3 min2024 ACS 5-Year17.7 minTop 11%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year19.7%Bottom 48%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year74.6%41st percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202611,085Bottom 4%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026−1.9%Bottom 24%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+1.3%Top 13%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202611,6534th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year66.1%Bottom 19%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.4%2024 ACS 5-Year0.7%82nd percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.9%Top 15%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20264.9%Bottom 29%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year5.5%39th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/077.24.3
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.9% in July 2026. It has been falling, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202448k39k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $48,297 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

23% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 33% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 14.3 students for every full-time teacher across 7 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
15
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
14.3
across 7 of them
Math proficiency
22.7%
Bottom 24% in Illinois
Reading proficiency
33.0%
Bottom 35% in Illinois
The 12 largest of 15 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Galesburg Senior High SchoolGalesburg CUSD 2051,15814.820%28%
Steele SchoolGalesburg CUSD 20554213.617%27%
Lombard Middle SchoolGalesburg CUSD 20553413.7——
Galesburg Jr High SchoolGalesburg CUSD 20551816.223%44%
King SchoolGalesburg CUSD 20551014.627%32%
Silas Willard Elem SchoolGalesburg CUSD 20542511.232%42%
Bright Futures Pre-K ProgGalesburg CUSD 20517622.0——
RAES WestHenderson/Knox/Mercer/Warren ROE0———
RAES Night SchoolHenderson/Knox/Mercer/Warren ROE0———
RAES West Alt EdHenderson/Knox/Mercer/Warren ROE0———
Knox Co Mary Davis Detention HomeGalesburg CUSD 2050———
RAES East Alt EdHenderson/Knox/Mercer/Warren ROE0———

76.3% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Illinois’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the non-metropolitan parts of Illinois is up 45% over five years, and up 5.6% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $1,917 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.99% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $916, some 14% above the $801 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $916 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $36,600 a year, about 76% of the median household income here of $48,297.

The typical renter household here spends 32% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $801 a month.

A median home at $96,400 costs 1.6 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $62,157, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
31.9%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
1.6×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$916
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$801
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$96,400
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Galesburg’s median household income of $48,297, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Home price change (1 year)the non-metropolitan parts of Illinois’s figure2026 Q2+5.6%83rd percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Illinois’s figure2026 Q2+44.8%56th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Illinois’s figure2026 Q2+68.1%13th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year1.6Top 17%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year62.2%24th percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±3372024 ACS 5-Year14,15696th percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$698Top 2%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,199Top 3%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$916Top 2%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$492024 ACS 5-Year$801Top 29%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$4,9832024 ACS 5-Year$96,40017th percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1212024 ACS 5-Year$1,91754th percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$7,0112024 ACS 5-Year$62,157Bottom 26%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.16%2024 ACS 5-Year1.99%92nd percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year31.9%Bottom 32%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±572024 ACS 5-Year3578th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.2%53rd percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year10.5%66th percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±2912024 ACS 5-Year1,52897th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures.

Development Momentum

33/ 100
Ranks 3,479 of 4,224 published city profiles
The most recent move in permitting was broadly flat, in a series running from 2022 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has fallen 2% since 2020, to 29,289 in 2024.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 1 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Knox County, which contains Galesburg, lost about 0.2% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $51,908, close to the $49,625 of households that moved out.

At 0.0 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
1
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
0.0
Bottom 4% nationally
Year over year
+100%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202430k29k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population. It has been holding roughly steady, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
−0.2%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
37%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$51,908
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$49,625
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Peoria County, IL 175 people · 12% of arrivals
  2. Warren County, IL 146 people · 9.9% of arrivals
  3. Henry County, IL 63 people · 4.3% of arrivals
  4. Fulton County, IL 60 people · 4.1% of arrivals
  5. Rock Island County, IL 60 people · 4.1% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Peoria County, IL 158 people · 10% of departures
  2. Warren County, IL 113 people · 7.2% of departures
  3. Cook County, IL 81 people · 5.2% of departures
  4. Henry County, IL 70 people · 4.5% of departures
  5. Rock Island County, IL 65 people · 4.2% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. This is the figure for Knox County, IL. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

20222023202420252.00.0
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2022 (−100%).

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 84°F and January a low of 14°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 39.0 inches, including 25.9 inches of snow.

0°20°40°60°80°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station GALESBURG, 0.5 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND5.3"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals39.0"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals25.9"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals14°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals84°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals53°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

59 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, strong wind and cold wave, with inland flooding alone responsible for 33% of it.

Strong windModerate
HailElevated
Cold waveModerate
TornadoModerate
Inland floodingModerate

Low or minimal exposure: heat wave, drought, ice storm, landslide, lightning, earthquake, winter weather, hurricane, wildfire, avalanche, tsunami, volcanic activity, coastal flooding.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Violent crime
453
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
3,052
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year

Below these are deaths rather than offenses, published for the county. The two measure different things and are not comparable with each other.

Galesburg's police department reported 453 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, higher than most places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 3,052.

Knox County has a modeled homicide rate of about 3.0 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at about 10.2 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at about 7.9 per 100,000 residents in Knox County.

Homicide
3.0
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
10.2
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
7.9
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Suicide
14.7
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Offenses are reported to the FBI by Galesburg’s own police department and shown only where it reported every month of the year; a partial year is withheld rather than scaled up. Reported crime is what police recorded, which is not the same as what happened. Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe the county around Galesburg (Knox County) rather than Galesburg itself. Neither is part of the Area Score. How to read crime rates and death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Cost of living
Price parities are published for metropolitan areas, and this place lies outside one.
Air quality
The EPA publishes an air-quality index only where a monitor sits. There is none in this county, and a modeled value would be a different kind of number from the measured ones everywhere else on this page.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. Cost of living is published where the Bureau of Economic Analysis measures it, though not for this place. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

5 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Quad Cities Intl at 35 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year82.3%Bottom 24%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle35 miBottom 23%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle5Top 45%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year12.0%Bottom 30%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Quad Cities IntlMLI35 mi10,002 ft
General Downing - Peoria IntlPIA41 mi10,104 ft
Central Il Rgnl/Bloomington-NormalBMI83 mi8,000 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
SafetyFederal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer
Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency
2025 calendar year
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology, or every source with how often each updates.

ZIP codes in Galesburg

1 ZIP area

Every ZIP area in Galesburg with census figures of its own, largest first. The ones linked below diverge enough from the city as a whole to carry a full profile; the rest track Galesburg closely, so their figures are here rather than on a page that would repeat this one. An Area Score is calculated for published profiles only, which is why it is blank on those rows.

ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeMedian home valueArea Score
6140130,580$50,546$100,600—