Waterloo is a medium-sized city located in the state of Illinois. With a population of 11,165 people and two associated neighborhoods, Waterloo is the 207th largest community in Illinois. Waterloo has seen a significant amount of newer housing growth in recent years. Quite often, new home construction is the result of new residents moving in who are middle class or wealthier, attracted by jobs, a healthy local economy, or other amenities as they leave nearby or far away areas for greener pastures. This seems to be the case in Waterloo, where the median household income is $98,711.00.Unlike some cities, Waterloo isn’t mainly white- or blue-collar. Instead, the most prevalent occupations for people in Waterloo are a mix of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Waterloo is a city of professionals, sales and office workers, and managers. There are especially a lot of people living in Waterloo who work in management occupations (13.72%), office and administrative support (13.46%), and sales jobs (12.38%). Also of interest is that Waterloo has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US. One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 12.93% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes. Waterloo is a good choice for families with children because of several factors. Many other families with children live here, making it a place where both parents and children are more likely to develop social ties with other families. The city’s good public school district and large population of college-educated adults provide an environment conducive to academic success. Many people own their own single-family homes, providing areas for children to play and stability in the community. Finally, Waterloo’s overall crime rate is lower than average for the country. Being a small city, Waterloo does not have a public transit system used by locals to get to and from work.The education level of Waterloo citizens is very high relative to the national average among all cities (21.84%): 37.30% of adults in Waterloo have a bachelor's degree or even advanced degree. The per capita income in Waterloo in 2022 was $47,421, which is wealthy relative to Illinois, and upper middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $189,684 for a family of four. The people who call Waterloo home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Waterloo residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Important ancestries of people in Waterloo include German, Irish, English, Polish, and French. The most common language spoken in Waterloo is English. Other important languages spoken here include Italian and Polish.
