<PAGE> PAGE 1
000 B000000 12/31/97
000 C000000 0000107822
000 D000000 N
000 E000000 NF
000 F000000 Y
000 G000000 N
000 H000000 N
000 I000000 3.0.a
000 J000000 U
001 A000000 NICHOLAS INCOME FUND, INC.
001 B000000 811-216
001 C000000 4142724650
002 A000000 700 N. WATER STREET, SUITE 1010
002 B000000 MILWAUKEE
002 C000000 WI
002 D010000 53202
002 D020000 4276
003 000000 N
004 000000 N
005 000000 N
006 000000 N
007 A000000 N
007 B000000 0
007 C010100 1
007 C010200 2
007 C010300 3
007 C010400 4
007 C010500 5
007 C010600 6
007 C010700 7
007 C010800 8
007 C010900 9
007 C011000 10
008 A000001 NICHOLAS COMPANY, INC.
008 B000001 A
008 C000001 801-4658
008 D010001 MILWAUKEE
008 D020001 WI
008 D030001 53202
012 A000001 FIRSTAR TRUST COMPANY
012 B000001 85-410
012 C010001 MILWAUKEE
012 C020001 WI
012 C030001 53202
013 A000001 DELOITTE & TOUCHE
013 B010001 MILWAUKEE
013 B020001 WI
013 B030001 53202
015 A000001 FIRSTAR TRUST COMPANY
015 B000001 C
015 C010001 MILWAUKEE
<PAGE> PAGE 2
015 C020001 WI
015 C030001 53202
015 E010001 X
018 000000 Y
019 A000000 Y
019 B000000 6
019 C000000 NICHOLASFA
020 A000001 ROBERT W. BAIRD & CO.
020 B000001 39-6037917
020 C000001 3
020 A000002 BEAR STEARNS & COMPANIES
020 B000002 13-4946705
020 C000002 2
020 A000003 FURMAN SELZ
020 B000003 13-2753731
020 C000003 1
020 C000004 0
020 C000005 0
020 C000006 0
020 C000007 0
020 C000008 0
020 C000009 0
020 C000010 0
021 000000 6
022 A000001 MARSHALL & ILSLEY BANK
022 B000001 39-1610688
022 C000001 138453
022 D000001 499
022 A000002 FIRSTAR TRUST COMPANY
022 B000002 39-0281260
022 C000002 64878
022 D000002 64241
022 A000003 FIRSTAR INVESTMENT DEPARTMENT
022 B000003 39-0281225
022 C000003 106706
022 D000003 8824
022 A000004 SOUTHWEST SECURITIES GROUP
022 B000004 75-1382137
022 C000004 55594
022 D000004 13405
022 A000005 CS FIRST BOSTON CORPORATION
022 B000005 13-5659485
022 C000005 64367
022 D000005 0
022 A000006 MORGAN STANLEY DEAN WITTER DISCOVER
022 B000006 13-2655978
022 C000006 28194
022 D000006 0
022 A000007 MORGAN KEEGAN
022 B000007 64-0474907
022 C000007 17998
<PAGE> PAGE 3
022 D000007 8180
022 A000008 BROOKSTREET SECURITIES
022 B000008 95-3749772
022 C000008 21252
022 D000008 3839
022 A000009 RODMAN & RENSHAW
022 B000009 36-2679547
022 C000009 7205
022 D000009 7803
022 A000010 LEHMAN BROTHERS
022 B000010 13-2518466
022 C000010 12980
022 D000010 0
023 C000000 534193
023 D000000 113258
026 A000000 N
026 B000000 Y
026 C000000 N
026 D000000 Y
026 E000000 N
026 F000000 N
026 G010000 N
026 G020000 N
026 H000000 N
028 A010000 10178
028 A020000 3169
028 A030000 0
028 A040000 3493
028 B010000 5768
028 B020000 0
028 B030000 0
028 B040000 2779
028 C010000 5245
028 C020000 0
028 C030000 0
028 C040000 1952
028 D010000 8588
028 D020000 3475
028 D030000 0
028 D040000 4570
028 E010000 4692
028 E020000 0
028 E030000 0
028 E040000 2397
028 F010000 6337
028 F020000 4077
028 F030000 0
028 F040000 2555
028 G010000 40808
028 G020000 10721
028 G030000 0
<PAGE> PAGE 4
028 G040000 17746
028 H000000 0
029 000000 N
030 A000000 0
030 B000000 0.00
030 C000000 0.00
034 000000 N
035 000000 0
036 B000000 0
037 000000 N
038 000000 0
039 000000 N
040 000000 N
041 000000 N
045 000000 Y
046 000000 N
047 000000 Y
048 000000 0.000
048 A010000 50000
048 A020000 0.500
048 B010000 50000
048 B020000 0.400
048 C010000 0
048 C020000 0.000
048 D010000 0
048 D020000 0.000
048 E010000 0
048 E020000 0.000
048 F010000 0
048 F020000 0.000
048 G010000 0
048 G020000 0.000
048 H010000 0
048 H020000 0.000
048 I010000 0
048 I020000 0.000
048 J010000 0
048 J020000 0.000
048 K010000 100000
048 K020000 0.300
049 000000 N
050 000000 N
051 000000 N
052 000000 N
053 A000000 N
054 A000000 Y
054 B000000 N
054 C000000 N
054 D000000 N
054 E000000 N
054 F000000 N
<PAGE> PAGE 5
054 G000000 N
054 H000000 Y
054 I000000 N
054 J000000 Y
054 K000000 N
054 L000000 N
054 M000000 Y
054 N000000 N
054 O000000 N
055 A000000 N
055 B000000 N
056 000000 Y
057 000000 N
058 A000000 N
059 000000 Y
060 A000000 Y
060 B000000 Y
061 000000 500
062 A000000 Y
062 B000000 0.0
062 C000000 0.0
062 D000000 0.0
062 E000000 0.0
062 F000000 0.0
062 G000000 0.0
062 H000000 0.0
062 I000000 6.4
062 J000000 0.0
062 K000000 0.0
062 L000000 3.2
062 M000000 0.0
062 N000000 0.0
062 O000000 0.0
062 P000000 80.8
062 Q000000 0.0
062 R000000 9.6
063 A000000 0
063 B000000 7.4
064 A000000 N
064 B000000 N
071 A000000 115769
071 B000000 64593
071 C000000 200797
071 D000000 32
072 A000000 12
072 B000000 17274
072 C000000 1522
072 D000000 0
072 E000000 525
072 F000000 809
072 G000000 0
<PAGE> PAGE 6
072 H000000 0
072 I000000 121
072 J000000 11
072 K000000 25
072 L000000 11
072 M000000 9
072 N000000 51
072 O000000 0
072 P000000 0
072 Q000000 0
072 R000000 15
072 S000000 31
072 T000000 0
072 U000000 0
072 V000000 0
072 W000000 22
072 X000000 1105
072 Y000000 0
072 Z000000 18216
072AA000000 1781
072BB000000 0
072CC010000 7724
072CC020000 0
072DD010000 18103
072DD020000 0
072EE000000 0
073 A010000 0.2903
073 A020000 0.0000
073 B000000 0.0000
073 C000000 0.0000
074 A000000 0
074 B000000 0
074 C000000 20380
074 D000000 205277
074 E000000 0
074 F000000 24346
074 G000000 0
074 H000000 0
074 I000000 0
074 J000000 0
074 K000000 0
074 L000000 5654
074 M000000 0
074 N000000 255657
074 O000000 0
074 P000000 80
074 Q000000 0
074 R010000 0
074 R020000 0
074 R030000 0
074 R040000 1371
<PAGE> PAGE 7
074 S000000 0
074 T000000 254206
074 U010000 68805
074 U020000 0
074 V010000 3.69
074 V020000 0.00
074 W000000 0.0000
074 X000000 9514
074 Y000000 0
075 A000000 0
075 B000000 219631
076 000000 0.00
077 A000000 Y
077 B000000 Y
077 C000000 N
077 D000000 N
077 E000000 N
077 F000000 N
077 G000000 N
077 H000000 N
077 I000000 N
077 J000000 N
077 K000000 N
077 L000000 N
077 M000000 N
077 N000000 N
077 O000000 N
077 P000000 N
077 Q010000 N
077 Q020000 N
077 Q030000 N
080 A000000 CHUBB GROUP
080 C000000 6325
081 A000000 Y
081 B000000 6
082 A000000 Y
082 B000000 25
083 A000000 N
083 B000000 0
084 A000000 N
084 B000000 0
085 A000000 Y
085 B000000 N
086 A010000 0
086 A020000 0
086 B010000 0
086 B020000 0
086 C010000 0
086 C020000 0
086 D010000 0
086 D020000 0
<PAGE> PAGE 8
086 E010000 0
086 E020000 0
086 F010000 0
086 F020000 0
SIGNATURE THOMAS J. SAEGER
TITLE EXEC VICE PRESIDENT
<TABLE> <S> <C>
<ARTICLE> 6
<S> <C>
<PERIOD-TYPE> YEAR
<FISCAL-YEAR-END> DEC-31-1997
<PERIOD-END> DEC-31-1997
<INVESTMENTS-AT-COST> 236556831
<INVESTMENTS-AT-VALUE> 250003379
<RECEIVABLES> 5653152
<ASSETS-OTHER> 0
<OTHER-ITEMS-ASSETS> 0
<TOTAL-ASSETS> 255656531
<PAYABLE-FOR-SECURITIES> 0
<SENIOR-LONG-TERM-DEBT> 0
<OTHER-ITEMS-LIABILITIES> 1450543
<TOTAL-LIABILITIES> 1450543
<SENIOR-EQUITY> 0
<PAID-IN-CAPITAL-COMMON> 247492109
<SHARES-COMMON-STOCK> 68804921
<SHARES-COMMON-PRIOR> 52650373
<ACCUMULATED-NII-CURRENT> 722668
<OVERDISTRIBUTION-NII> 0
<ACCUMULATED-NET-GAINS> (7434375)
<OVERDISTRIBUTION-GAINS> 0
<ACCUM-APPREC-OR-DEPREC> 13425586
<NET-ASSETS> 254205988
<DIVIDEND-INCOME> 1521750
<INTEREST-INCOME> 17274549
<OTHER-INCOME> 524737
<EXPENSES-NET> 1104952
<NET-INVESTMENT-INCOME> 18216084
<REALIZED-GAINS-CURRENT> 1781466
<APPREC-INCREASE-CURRENT> 7724030
<NET-CHANGE-FROM-OPS> 27721580
<EQUALIZATION> 0
<DISTRIBUTIONS-OF-INCOME> 18102607
<DISTRIBUTIONS-OF-GAINS> 0
<DISTRIBUTIONS-OTHER> 0
<NUMBER-OF-SHARES-SOLD> 21707323
<NUMBER-OF-SHARES-REDEEMED> 9318378
<SHARES-REINVESTED> 3765603
<NET-CHANGE-IN-ASSETS> 68538069
<ACCUMULATED-NII-PRIOR> 609191
<ACCUMULATED-GAINS-PRIOR> (9215841)
<OVERDISTRIB-NII-PRIOR> 0
<OVERDIST-NET-GAINS-PRIOR> 0
<GROSS-ADVISORY-FEES> 809091
<INTEREST-EXPENSE> 0
<GROSS-EXPENSE> 1104952
<AVERAGE-NET-ASSETS> 219630553
<PER-SHARE-NAV-BEGIN> 3.53
<PER-SHARE-NII> .3
<PER-SHARE-GAIN-APPREC> .15
<PER-SHARE-DIVIDEND> .29
<PER-SHARE-DISTRIBUTIONS> 0
<RETURNS-OF-CAPITAL> 0
<PER-SHARE-NAV-END> 3.69
<EXPENSE-RATIO> .5
<AVG-DEBT-OUTSTANDING> 0
<AVG-DEBT-PER-SHARE> 0
</TABLE>